


World Of Sacrifice

by Foot_chan



Series: Waking The Demon [3]
Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Minor Character Deaths, WWE NXT, Waking The Demon AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-02-20 16:19:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13150392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foot_chan/pseuds/Foot_chan
Summary: Just how did Kathleen meet the mysterious Aleister Black? How close are they? Why does he feel the need to help her daughter?After Aleister accidentally releases Balor's soul on the world of mortals, he needs to fix his actions. However, he wasn't expecting to meet a woman who would hold such a place in his heart.





	1. Chapter 1

_Aleister knew what he had done as soon as his companions' bodies had started erupting into flames one right after the other. Balor, who was once the strongest demon roaming the earth, was dead; however, thanks to Aleister, his soul was free, jumping from one mortal to the next after realizing that their flesh and bones weren't strong enough to withstand his full power. After the first of Aleister's closest friends seemed to spontaneously combust, the other four immediately started chanting in an old language, trying to control the Demon King. It was a futile attempt._

_After the other four were nothing but ashes, Aleister braced himself for the same fate._

_He had only wanted to prove that he was as strong as his companions, but his plan to bring the Demon King back to life had backfired on him. He was supposed to slip the demon's soul into the Ziel stone, capturing it there until he could get the power to make Balor his servant. However, he had found out that the demon's soul was harder to control than he had thought it would be. When Aleister felt his grip on the free spirit slipping, he knew that he wouldn't be able to put Balor into the orb._

You aren't even worth trying.

_He heard the deep growl of the demon in his mind before feeling a pressure being lifted from the dark stone room, all six of the black candles blowing out as the soul left the area. As soon as the presence was gone, Aleister picked the round, black orb up off the floor and held it in both of his shaking hands. He didn't hesitate in chanting his own spell, trying to remain calm and focus on his words as he recited the spell to see into the future._

_He could see thousands of humans dying, the tortured screams sounding almost identical to the ones his friends had released right before their deaths. He delved further into the future before he saw an Irishman coming into contact with Balor, his bright blue eyes growing wide when he realized what was coming for him. Balor would be able to take over this human's body for a short time before the human regained control and locked Balor away. He looked further into the man's future then._

_Aleister saw a group of demons form in an attempt to kill the man who was playing host to Balor, but Balor's power helped him to destroyed them all, leaving only one shinigami who was supposed to be his ally standing. Balor would then take control of the man's body, going on to kill thousands more._

_Aleister knew he needed to do something about the rogue demon soul that he had accidentally released on humanity in an attempt to impress the other magicians, so he came back to his senses and looked down to the orb in his palms, deciding that he needed to make a weapon that would kill the soul of Balor._

_After he made up his mind, he once again looked to the future. Making one small decision like that could change everything, he knew, so he needed to check on what changes his weapon would make. If it would do no good, then he needed to come up with another plan._

_Going back to the fight with the group of demons, he saw the shinigami turn on the man in control of Balor, bringing in a greater threat—the reaper. Suddenly, the reaper was holding a sharp blade, the red hilt home to Aleister's black Ziel stone that he was holding in his hand in the present. Upon seeing the dagger, Balor took control of the man's body, transforming it into his own. The reaper would kill Balor with the blade in the future._

_Aleister opened his moss green eyes to once again look to the stone, knowing then what he needed to do. He would have to keep tabs on that man's family and make sure that Finn Devitt got the dagger he was about to create._

 

Thousands of years had gone by since Aleister accidentally set the Demon King's soul free, and he had been watching as the demon moved from human to human, destroying each of them as he went. With each death, Aleister felt another wave of guilt and regret crash through his body. He would make it right, though, he thought to himself as he watched a long haired ogre try to talk four shapeshifters into joining the demons who would start the battle against Balor. 

He knew that the shapeshifters would agree, but he decided to watch anyway. The next person that Wyatt, the rougarou in charge of the group, would convince to join him would be a female healer. Aleister knew that Wyatt would go to her himself, but he also knew she wouldn't make it out of the battle alive. She would go on to bring one of Wyatt's allies back from the dead, but as soon as Balor realized what she was capable of, he would kill her instantly.

Aleister transformed into his crow's body, flying to the woman's apartment so that he could be there when Wyatt made his appearance. He wanted to see exactly what the woman had against Balor that would make her decide to join Wyatt.

 

**Chapter 1**  
I looked at the small child in the hospital bed, and my stomach fell. Seeing anyone in pain made my helpful nature surge to life, especially when it was a four year old child who was hooked to an IV and lying unconscious due to pneumonia. If I could help him, I would. 

Though I could completely get rid of the boy's illness with one push, I had to hold myself back. I couldn't make him a hundred percent better for fear of the doctors researching what had caused his miraculous recovery, but I could get rid of most of the disease and let his body and the medicine handle the rest.

After looking around to make sure no one was watching, I placed my hand on the boy's forehead and concentrated. I felt the familiar healing magic tingling under my skin, ready to be used at my will. 

Deciding to work in a children's hospital as a nurse's assistant had been an easy choice for me to make after I realized what I was capable of. Ever since I had found out that I had magic in my body that I could use to heal people, I had wanted nothing more than to help whoever I could with it. 

I had realized that I held this magic when I was a kid in high school. I was fifteen, a young girl who had plans on becoming a lawyer, but fate had other plans. There was a storm that had knocked a tree into the house I lived in, crashing through my bedroom and into my sleeping body. My mom had heard the noise and had come to help me, but I had apparently been knocked out cold. 

When I awoke with no bruises or broken bones, my mother had explained what she had done. She had healed me with her magic, and that had set off my own, making it accessible to my use.

I smiled fondly at the sick boy and sent a small wave of my magic into him, careful not to use enough for the light red glow to appear. The magic was only visible when I needed to use a large amount of it, shining brightly around my body and whoever was on the receiving end of the healing power. I knew better than to use enough for that to happen in a public area. It was only for the life-threatening injuries.

My mother had warned me against using my magic for others to see, but as a teenager, I hadn't cared. I had wanted to show my closest friends what I could do—how I could help. It made me feel special that I could do something that no one else could. It had backfired on me, however, when the school bus carrying us to the county public school had crashed and all of my friends had been begging for my help. My powers hadn't grown strong enough to save any of them at that time, and the looks in their accusatory gazes as they passed away would forever haunt me. That was when I had decided that I would only use my magic without other people knowing about it.

“Isn't it time for you to go home?” A coworker snapped me out of my memories as she walked into the hospital room. I quickly shut the flow of my magic off and checked the boy's vitals, taking notes for the doctor. He was going to recover in record time.

“I was about to leave, I promise.” I smiled at the other woman, glad that I had been able to help another child. It always put me in a good mood when I knew a set of parents would get the happy news about their child recovering.

“You've already been here for fourteen hours. I'm starting to think you live here.” The older woman laughed at her joke, but the truth was that I just didn't want to go home to an empty apartment on Christmas Night. I would rather have stayed at the hospital all night, helping the children when I could. It was the one gift that I could give them on the holiday.

After leaving my notes on all of the patients with my relief nurse, I gathered my things and headed toward the door. When I stepped outside into the frigid night air, the snow that was falling caught my attention first. The large flakes were gathering on the ground, creating an untouched blanket of soft white powder on the earth.

The second thing that caught my attention was an unusually large crow. The sight of the sleek black feathers contrasting with the white snow slowly piling up in the branches of the tree made me feel like I had lost the ability to see color, but I knew that to be untrue because of the piercing emerald eyes that almost seemed to watch me as I made my way across the parking lot and to my Toyota Camry.

I pulled my jacket closed around me before finally taking my eyes off of the bird and settling into the driver seat of my car. After starting the engine, I looked back to the tree where I had seen the crow, but it was gone. 

The drive home took longer than usual thanks to the state of the roads during the snowfall, but I made it without incident. After locking up the car, I walked up the sidewalk to my building, pulling my key out of my purse before unlocking the door and stepping into the warm living room.

I had just enough time to sit my purse on the small table by the door before I realized that there was a person sitting on my floral patterned couch across the room. I quickly switched the light on and reached for my purse again, fully intending to use the can of mace that I kept hidden there.

“Calm down, Katherine.” The strange man's voice sounded smooth as he stood up and took a small step toward me, smiling as he raised his palms in a show of surrender. “I'm here to ask for your help.”

I looked the man over, wondering why he would need my help. His black t-shirt showed his large arms, neither of which seemed to have any wounds on them. His pale, round face was mostly covered by a thick beard and mustache, but I couldn't see any signs of trauma on it. His hair, which was styled into long dark dreadlocks, wasn't matted with blood or any other bodily fluid. His heavy set body was standing straight up, no limp or broken bones in sight. 

“Why do you need my help?” I asked, slowly moving my hand away from my purse.

Usually when anyone asked for my help, it was because they were injured and needed a quick recovery method with my magic. Especially the demons, which I assumed this man was. However, he didn't seem to have a scratch on his body.

Demons had been a part of my life for the past few years. Once I started working at the hospital, I had used my magic to heal an orphan child that had been brought in from the streets. The child turned out to be a demon, coming to accompany another patient's soul to the afterlife. After I had healed her, she had told me that she had been injured by some other monster and was afraid she wouldn't be able to complete her job on that night. It was she who had started telling the other demons around the country of my existence, trying to express her gratitude to me for helping her. It was harmless, but it had caused me troubles.

“I wanted you to join me,” he said, his dull blue eyes crinkling as he smiled at me.

I straightened my body, standing tall in front of the man even though I was almost a foot shorter than he was. At five and a half feet tall, I knew I wasn't that intimidating, but everyone had always told me that my storm cloud blue eyes were enough to freeze anyone in their tracks. I just hoped it would work on a demon.

“Join you in what?” I asked, keeping my voice level. The man was unsettling, but I didn't want him to see my nervous state. 

“I need help in defeating a very strong demon, you see,” he started, moving his hands in front of him, almost in an eccentric manner. “This demon has done a lot of bad things in the world. And I know how you like helping people.”

“You don't know anything about me.”

“Oh, but I do, Katherine.” He dropped his tone, and it send a wave of nerves through my stomach. “You work at a children's hospital just so you can help those innocent beings. You're a very strong healer—probably the strongest one alive right now. You live alone here, but your parents only live a few miles away. You're twenty-four years old. You have no siblings.”

“Stop.” I balled my fists at my sides, trying to figure out how this man knew all of these things about me. Had he been following me? Watching me? For how long? “Who are you?”

He turned his back to me for a moment while he took a breath, then turned back to me with that same creepy smile from before, his voice suddenly sounding optimistic. “My name is Wyatt, and I'm only trying to help a group of demons get revenge on Balor. Balor is...” he paused, his smile fading as he sent a blank stare into the empty space between us. 

Finally, it seemed as though he got back on his train of thought, his tone once more moving to the more serious spectrum. “Balor is a very evil demon. He's a soul who has taken possession of a human. He killed thousands of demons and humans while he was alive. The blood on my hands is nothing compared to that on his.” He held his hands in front of him again, turning his palms up as if to show me that they were clean.

“I can't fight. I'm afraid you'll have to find other help.” I opened the door back, hoping he would get the hint and leave. The cold wind blew through the opening, but Wyatt didn't move.

“I don't need you to fight. I need you to keep our numbers up. It will take all ten of those in this group, plus more, to defeat Balor.” He smiled again, obviously an attempt to reassure me. It wasn't working. “If Balor should hurt one of us, I need you to fix it. If he should kill me, I need you to revive me. I know that you can only bring back one deceased body at a time, and that you need a little while for your magic to come back before you can do it again, so that one resurrection will be saved for me.”

I stared in disbelief at what this man was saying to me. He wanted to use me as basically an army medic, keeping his soldiers in fighting shape until the war was over. He was only fighting one demon, though. If ten other demons couldn't handle this one, exactly how strong was he? I didn't want to get involved in the disagreements of demons anyway, but especially not against one strong enough to warrant a mini-army.

“I can't help you. You're talking about ganging up on one human who's being possessed by a demon.” I pointed to the door when I realized that Wyatt obviously wasn't going to leave yet. “You need to go.”

Wyatt took a step toward me, his face suddenly falling into a deadpan stare. “You'll join us. Just wait until Balor realizes you exist. He'll come after you next.”

Finally, he stepped over the threshold of the door and out of my apartment. I watched as he looked back to me and let a slow smile creep onto his lips before he took off at an amazing speed. 

I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized he was gone, the nerves finally starting to dissipate. I started to close the front door, but before I even touched the handle, a giant bird landed on the porch and released a loud crow call.

I let out a squeal of surprise and almost fell back away from the crow outside the door. When I realized that it didn't look as though it was going to make an attempt to attack me or get in the door, I stopped panicking. Studying it, I realized it looked exactly like the one I had seen in the parking lot of the hospital. It's striking green eyes watched me as fog started forming around it.

I watched with sickening interest as I realized the crow was changing its shape, its bones cracking to readjust themselves. Another demon, I thought to myself as my heart rate once again picked up. What could this one want?

Once the fog lifted from around the crow, I realized that a man was standing in its place, hovering over me, but not in an intimidating way. 

It took me off guard to see a demon in a dark grey suit, but only because he was seemingly covered in tattoos. The ones that were visible on his hands were an old woman with a smile on the left; and a white tiger, its sharp fangs barred in a growl, on the right. I thought I saw a human heart tattooed on his throat, but his long beard was covering most of it. His light brown mohawk was slicked back, falling right below his shoulders, covering the sides of his neck, which I was sure held more tattoos. The only visible part of his body that wasn't painted with ink was his face.

“You can't join Wyatt.” His sudden demand was said in a gentle voice, but his stare held an intensity that said he wasn't playing around. 

“What makes you think I'm going to?” I asked, jumping to defend myself. “And who are you? What kind of demon are you? A shapeshifter?”

“I'm not a demon.” He held his calm demeanor as he looked down to me. “My name is Aleister Black.”

“Then what are you, Aleister Black?” I asked as I stepped back away from the door, trying to put distance between Aleister and me. He hadn't made a move toward me, but I still didn't want to be so close. “What gives you the right to come to me and make demands?”

Aleister kept his calm composure as he answered me. “I use black magic. I was actually born a human who happens to have magic in his body, just like you,” he explained, presumably trying to make me feel better about him transforming into a human from a crow only a moment ago. “And it wasn't a demand, just a suggestion.” He stopped, taking a few seconds to think his next words over before he continued in a slow voice, keeping his eye contact with me. “But I know what will happen when you join Wyatt, and honestly, you have a special kindness that doesn't need to die yet.”

“I'm not joining him.” Though this man wasn't giving me the same uneasy feeling that Wyatt had, I still didn't want to say too much to him. I knew that first impressions didn't mean much as far as demons and magic were concerned. Anyone could change at the drop of a hat.

“He's somehow going to talk you into it.” His voice fell in volume the slightest bit with his next words. “And you will die.” 

A sense of stubbornness ran through me at his assumption. I wasn't so weak minded that a demon could talk me into joining some kind of war. I placed my hands on my hips and set my face into a hard stare, trying to prove that I wouldn't easily be swayed by anything. “And how's that?”

“I'm not sure yet. But he will.” He looked around us then, making sure that none of my neighbors were watching our exchange. He once again lowered his voice. “I can see into the future if I use the right spell, but it gets fuzzy when my own black magic is involved. Sometimes I can tell what will happen, but most of the time it changes if I interfere.” For the first time, he took a half a step toward me before stopping himself. “I do, however, know that if you join Wyatt, Balor will kill you as soon as he finds out what you can do. I've only been watching you for a short time, but I just can't let you die yet. You have too good of a heart to be a sacrifice to that demon.”

My mind started spinning at his admission. Not because he thought I was going to die—I was convinced that nothing would make me join Wyatt—but because he had also been watching me. How many demons knew exactly where to find me? I knew that there had been more than I was comfortable with who had sought me out, but the rising number made me cringe.

I shook off the feeling before I placed my hand on the door knob, having every intention of shutting it in Aleister's face if he didn't leave me alone. “I don't plan on helping him. I don't know why you saw me there in your vision, but I would never help a whole group of demons gang up on a single person, demon or not.” Before I could stop, I found myself whispering a confession. “I wish everyone would stop searching me out for help with stupid things like that. I just want you demons to leave me alone.”

As I started to close the door, Aleister took a full step forward, holding it open. He stared at me with a contemplating gaze for a moment before sighing. “I may be able to help...”

I didn't ask how. Instead, I only watched curiously as he moved his hand in my direction, stopping it when his palm was inches from my chest. I wanted to turn away from him, but my body wasn't allowing it. 

Aleister started speaking in a language that I had never heard before, and suddenly a sky blue light was emanating from his fingers and flowing into me. He closed his eyes while the light traveled, opening them once more when the glowing had stopped. He moved his hand back to his side and looked me over, seemingly proud of what he'd done.

I didn't feel any different, but I wasn't sure exactly what he had tried to accomplish. He could have put a curse on me and I had just stood there and let him. At the thought, my pulse picked up further.

“What did you just do?” I quickly asked as I looked down to my chest, not seeing anything different about the white nurse's scrubs that I was wearing.

“I hid you from demons.” When he saw my bewildered expression, he explained. “When a demon sees you now, it won't see your face. It will see you as a different person until it hears your true name and the spell breaks.”

I looked back up into his eyes then, suddenly feeling an unexpected wave of gratitude. I couldn't think of anything to say to Aleister at first. I had actually been given anonymity once again, and I wouldn't have to worry about anyone finding me for my powers. However, I needed to change jobs and find a new place to live for this to work. I needed to go by a new name so that demons who had heard of me wouldn't be able to find me if they were around when anyone called out to me. 

As if he could read my thoughts, Aleister started speaking in a low voice. “I'll keep him away from you long enough for you to find somewhere else to stay. He's not going to come back tonight, but he will be back in a week if I'm right. Find somewhere before then.”

“Th-thank you.” I stuttered over my words, unsure of what else I _could_ say. 

Aleister let go of the door and stepped back into the falling snow, giving me a slow nod before fog started surrounding him again. I listened to the sickening crunch of his bones distorting into the shape of the crow before he flew off silently. Quickly, I closed the door and twisted the lock. 

Unsure if I would be able to even get to sleep with all the thoughts running wild in my mind, I walked into my bedroom. I had to try to rest because I knew I would have a long day ahead of me.


	2. Chapter 2

I stepped out of the curtained area, leaving the bloody, elderly woman lying on the bed while the other nurses cleaned up her remaining cuts. The emergency room that I had found a new job at was quickly filling up with victims of a very strong tornado that had hit about twenty miles away from where I was. All of our normal rooms in the department were full, so we had to resort to using curtains as make-shift rooms around the large waiting area. The hospital that was closest to the tornado had already filled up, so the ambulances were re-directing new victims to the next closest emergency rooms. The storm had hit hours ago, but there were still more patients being carted in.

“Hey, good job at saving that woman, Kathleen!” One of my new co-workers walked up to me as he took off a pair of gloves and put them in a near by trash can. The happy tone in his voice brought a smile to my face, even in the dire situation. It always made me happy to see this particular doctor.

“I just did what I've been trained to do, David,” I told him as I watched him run a hand through his short, light brown hair. His dark brown eyes almost seemed black as the signs of exhaustion showed on his tired face. 

In all honesty, I had used a tiny amount of my magic to keep the woman he had mentioned from dying. I had been using my magic in small bursts since we had gotten the first tornado victim. The older woman was the tenth person that night that I had to help with more than just medicine, but I wasn't using enough of my magic to drain myself any time soon.

It had been four months since I had moved to a new city and gotten my new job. It had all happened so fast. Only days after Aleister Black had cast a spell to hide me from demons and given me a second chance at anonymity, I was packing my stuff and moving out of my old apartment. 

Aleister had come to my home to warn me against joining another demon, Wyatt, in a war against the self-proclaimed Demon King, Balor. I had wanted nothing to do with the war in the first place, and I let Wyatt know as much, but he still wanted me to join him. With Aleister's help, I no longer had to worry about Wyatt finding me. As long as they didn't hear someone call me by my real name, I looked completely different to the demons roaming around. They couldn't see my long, chestnut brown hair. They couldn't see my blue-grey eyes. I wasn't exactly sure what kind of body they were seeing, but it wasn't mine.

That was the reason David, as well as all of my other co-workers, had been calling me Kathleen Silver since I had started working with them. None of them knew me before I moved to the city. The only people who knew where I had moved to and knew that I had to change my name were my parents and the black magician.

“It looks like we're going to have to take a rain check on our dinner.” David shook me from my thoughts about demons with his quiet words. “That's the life of a doctor. You have to be where you're needed most.”

“We're both needed here more.” I smiled up at David again to show him that I wasn't upset about having to reschedule.

David Baker and I had been spending a lot of time together after I had gotten settled into my new home. He was the first person who offered to show me around the town after finding out that I had never been there before, and he was the closest thing to a friend that I had in the new place. He was a good doctor, and his willingness to help anyone played off my own ambitions to help the humans around me. He actually made me feel welcomed in a sea full of unfamiliar faces. The fact that he had nothing to do with magic or demons made me like spending time with him even more. He had been the starting point to my life regaining some form of normalcy after trying to start over fresh. Around him, I forgot all about demons and magic.

“Oh, it doesn't look like this one will make it,” David mumbled, looking over to a man being rushed in on a gurney.

“This one isn't from the tornadoes. He was found in a back alley a few blocks away,” one of the men pushing the gurney said as they moved past us. 

I looked down to the man strapped to the gurney and felt my eyes grow wide. Lying there, wearing only a pair of jeans and covered in blood, was Aleister Black. He was pale and still, no signs of life coming from him. In his broad chest was a gaping hole, blood flowing freely from the wound to smear over the tattoos that decorated his body. I had only ever met Aleister once—that night at my apartment—but I thought for sure that he had to be powerful. What could have happened to him?

I felt my pulse quicken as my mind started racing. Paranoia hit me as my eyes darted around the emergency room, making sure that there were no hidden demons lurking in the shadows. The two men pushing the gurney continued forward to another curtained area, moving Aleister out of my sight. I started to go to him, but David gently took my arm. 

I slowly turned back around to see him shift his eyes in every direction before he leaned his head down to whisper to me in a soft voice, not wanting anyone to overhear him. “You saw that injury. He won't make it, even if he's still alive now. There are more people here that we can actually help.”

I looked up into David's serious expression, knowing that any human would think that way. The hole in Aleister's chest meant certain death for a mortal. If I didn't know exactly who—and what—Aleister was, I would have probably thought the same thing. However, I _did_ know what he was, and I knew a little bit about what he could do. He had done me the favor of helping me stay under Wyatt's radar, so I owed it to him to heal his injury. Plus, I needed to find out exactly what had happened to him. I had a growing fear that it was related to Wyatt.

I tried to steady my breathing before speaking. “I'm just going to go make him comfortable if he's still alive. I'll be right out to help with the others.” 

I slowly pulled my arm from David's light grasp as I calmly turned toward the make-shift room that the white curtains created, my actions polar opposite from the emotions stirring inside of me. I had to stop myself from rushing to Aleister's side. If there were any demons hiding out amongst the humans, I didn't want them to notice my rising need to speak with him. If Wyatt had found out about Aleister's spell on me, he may have been watching to see if anyone acted suspicious around him.

I stepped into the room as the two men who had rushed Aleister in were about to walk out, both of them shaking their heads as they kept their eyes downcast. It wasn't a good sign for Aleister, I thought as I tried to keep my nerves in check.

“I'll clean him up,” I told the men, my voice quiet. I didn't trust myself to speak at a normal volume. “You two go on.” I held the curtain open for them to step through and leave me alone with Aleister.

As soon as the men were gone, I rushed to the bed to get a better look at Aleister, adrenaline leading my actions. The wound was just to the right of his heart. It looked about the same size of an average human fist, causing me to think someone may have punched the gaping hole into him. I didn't have time to study any of the intricate tattoos covering his arms and the rest of his body because I knew I needed to hurry and fix him with my magic. 

His chest had stopped moving. I couldn't hear any breath coming from him. With purpose, I moved my fingers to the side of his neck, pressing them against a tattoo of a pale woman with a light blue shall wrapped around her hair. I was hoping to find a pulse. My stomach dropped when I felt nothing but his cool skin. 

I shot a quick glance around the curtained enclosure to check that I was still alone, then I laid my bare hand on Aleister's chest, not caring about his blood getting on me. I knew I could clean it up after I brought him back.

After a split second of hesitation, I took a deep breath and felt for the magic inside of my body. I reached for it and envisioned all of it moving to the palm I had rested against Aleister's chest. I pushed the magic, just like I'd do if I only wanted to use a small amount. The only difference was, I was stopping it all against my skin instead of letting it move into Aleister. 

Soon the tingling sensation against my palm became uncomfortable, making my entire hand feel almost numb as the magic gathered there. That was when I knew that I had it all exactly where I needed it.

I swept my gaze around us one more time before taking another deep breath and moving my eyes back to Aleister's face. I mentally counted to three, then forced all of the air out of my lungs, pushing my magic into Aleister as I did. Every muscle in my body tensed as the magic flowed from my hand and into his still form. A red light surrounded my arm and quickly shot through Aleister's body, reminding me of the electric current that came from defibrillator paddles as they steadied a person's dying heart. The glow was so bright that I worried someone would see it through the curtains, but I hoped that it was quick enough for no one to notice.

Once the magic stopped moving, the light vanished. My head started spinning after everything had left my body, leaving me feeling weak. It was a feeling I had gotten used to. Every time I exerted too much of my magic, it always left me fatigued, but I had gotten good at fighting it off and concentrating through the dizziness.

As I placed my other hand on Aleister's chest to check for his heartbeat, I heard him take a gasping, shaky breath. I finally let out my own sigh of relief as I relaxed my tense muscles. With the motion, I almost fell forward, but held myself up with my hands on Aleister.

I watched as Aleister's eyelids fluttered opened, revealing a confused stare as he looked around at his surroundings. When his gaze landed on me, understanding dawned on him. Without a word, he reached a trembling hand up to my right wrist and gently wrapped his rough fingers around it. His skin was already feeling warmer as he kept a hold of my wrist, almost like the contact was a lifeline that he needed to survive.

The emotion I could see in his eyes spoke volumes, and it made my heart swell with happiness, despite the fact that I felt like I could tumble over at any moment. I could see the same gratitude on his face that I had seen in several patients before. The relief that I was used to seeing after telling someone they were going to survive an injury or illness.

There was something mixed in with those other emotions, though. It almost looked like amazement. I assumed Aleister knew exactly what I was capable of, so I wasn't sure why he was so awe-struck with the fact that I had brought him back from the dead.

I turned my gaze back to his chest, staring past my own hand still in Aleister's grasp to see that the hole there had closed completely. Under the blood that remained on his chest was nothing but smooth skin.

“Who did that to you?” I asked him quietly as I turned my attention back to his blood covered face. His long mohawk was splayed across the pillow on the small bed he was lying in, more blood covering each strand of hair as though his head had been busted open; and it may very well have been. I hadn't been able to look past the wound on his chest long enough to search the rest of his body for injuries.

“Wyatt.” His voice sounded hoarse as it slipped past his lips in a barely audible whisper. 

A deep dread ran through me as I let my left hand fall to my side. Aleister kept a hold of my other one as he slowly rose to a sitting position, crossing his legs on the bed. He tugged at my wrist, and I took the hint to sit down beside him before my balance could give out on me. As good as I was at fighting the drained feeling I got from emptying my magic, even I needed to sit down afterwards.

“Why did Wyatt attack you?” I asked as I looked over to him. I noticed one of the tattoos on his left arm looked like a devil done in all black and grey shades with a long tongue hanging down to the crease of his elbow. It was surrounded by more demons that I couldn't quite focus on at that moment, all of them intertwining seamlessly with the others.

He moved his gaze to my wrist, which was still wrapped up in his fingers. With a sigh, he answered, his voice sounding stronger than it was before. “Wyatt sent a group of demons after me in an attempt to find you. He knows I've hidden you.”

“He attacked you just to get to me?” The realization was frightening to say the least. If Wyatt was willing to kill someone to get my help, what would he do if he found me and I refused?

Suddenly, Aleister's eyes shot to the curtain's. I turned my gaze in time to see a hand reach around the edge, about to pull it open. My mouth went dry as I tried to think of any kind of explanation as to how Aleister was sitting up, completely healed. I didn't want anyone to find out about my magic, but it appeared as though I would have no choice but to tell everyone about it if they saw Aleister alive.

“ _Ophouden._ ” Aleister whispered the foreign word as he lightly squeezed my wrist.

I jerked my head in his direction, not sure of what he had just done. His deep green eyes were still focused on the curtain, but he seemed to have relaxed the slightest bit.

I followed his gaze once more, and I noticed that the person had stopped. With a start, I realized that all of the outside noise had gone quiet. I couldn't hear nurses or doctors talking amongst themselves. I couldn't hear the patients agonized groans of pain as they were taken in. I couldn't even see the shadows sliding along the white curtains. It was as though everything had stopped. Almost as if time had ceased moving. 

“Wyatt is here.” Aleister's tone seemed entirely too calm for what he had just said.

Panic once again hit me as I jumped to my feet, ripping my wrist from Aleister's fingers as I started swaying with the fast movements. “What do we need to do? Do we need to hide? Do you need to leave?” I asked as I grabbed the side of the small bed, trying to keep my balance. My hand, which was still wet with Aleister's blood, slipped off of the slick metal of the bed frame. Aleister swiftly took my elbow in his grasp before slowly standing, keeping me upright. This time it was as though he were my lifeline, keeping me grounded in the moment. I was able to take a deep breath as I turned to face him, searching his face for any sign of emotion. 

Aleister kept his eyes trained on the curtain as he answered me, his voice steady. “We've got a few minutes. I've stopped everything.” He turned his stare back to me then, suddenly speaking quickly. “I'm going to leave. All you need to do is walk out of this area and go somewhere else. Go somewhere that no one can see you. Once everything starts moving again, calmly join everyone. Do your job. Don't act suspicious. Even if you see Wyatt, act as though you don't know him.”

“What do I tell everyone about you? They can't know that I brought you back to life.” My mind once again started trying to think of any excuse for a dead body to be gone, but it was coming up short.

“You don't need to tell anyone anything.”

My stare turned into one of disbelief. “I've got to tell them something. I was the last person in here with you.”

“You cleaned my body and left me for someone else to take to the morgue. You left me lying here. You don't know what happened after that.” His words eased my mind the slightest bit. Who would question me? Who would think I would do anything with a dead body? No one.

I turned my gaze back down to his blood covered chest, focusing my attention on one of the tattoos there that I could actually make out through the smears of blood. This one appeared to be a demon woman's face right in the center of his chest. The skin of the demon was black, her long red tongue hanging out much like the one on his shoulder. On top of her head was an ornate golden crown, it's tip coming to a stop in the middle of Aleister's sternum. 

“Are you on Balor's side here?” I asked him as I wondered why he was going to such great lengths to protect me and hide me from Wyatt.

Aleister had told me that if I joined Wyatt in his fight against Balor, I would die. I wasn't sure how me dying would affect the outcome of the battle either way, so I didn't know exactly why Aleister wanted me to stay out of the middle of it. For the first time in four months, I remembered his words from the night at my apartment. 

Aleister had said that he thought I had a special kindness that didn't need to die. He had told me that I had too good of a heart to be a sacrifice to Balor. I had been blocking most of that night from my memory, trying not to focus on it. Instead, I had been concentrating on the future. Trying to figure out Aleister's motives had been the furthest thing from my mind as I settled into my new life.

“No,” he answered, pulling my attention from his tattoo back to his steady gaze, his hand still wrapped around my elbow. “I'm not on Balor's side. I'm not on Wyatt's side. I'm just an outside observer, here to make sure that everything plays out the way it should.”

“Then why are you trying to change me dying?” I asked before quickly adding, “Not that I'm going to join Wyatt and die anyway.”

“I told you already. I don't want to see you dead yet.” He released a small sigh as he let go of my elbow and turned his back to me, taking a slight step away. The loss of contact, as small as it was, left me feeling vulnerable. “Out of all the demons who will die when this fight happens, you'll be the only human among them. You'll be the only person who has never hurt anyone. You've never tried to harm another living creature. There's no need for your death.”

I watched the muscles in his back move as he crossed his arms over his chest and spoke. The large tattoo of a devil's head that covered his whole back stared at me, its yellow eyes standing out against its green skin. The brown horns on its head curved back toward its skull, and it's forked, purple tongue was hanging out of its mouth full of fangs. I absentmindedly wondered why all of Aleister's demons and devils had their tongues hanging out, but I didn't think it was important at that moment. What _was_ important was what he had said.

He believed that there was no reason for me to die. While I knew I had never tried to hurt anyone before, I wasn't sure that I was worth dying for. But that was exactly what Aleister had done before being rushed into the emergency room. He had laid down his life trying to keep me hidden.

“You should go now. I can't hold time still for much longer,” Aleister said in a gentle but urgent tone as he turned to me and let his arms fall back to his sides. “You need to wash the blood from your hands.”

I looked down to my open palms then, the crimson blood covering both of them. I definitely couldn't be seen walking around like that, but the thought of leaving Aleister while Wyatt was creeping around almost sent me into a panic again.

“What if Wyatt finds out that I'm me?” I asked as I looked back up to Aleister, my voice sounding almost desperate. 

I needed to know for sure that the demon wasn't going to make any moves in a hospital full of injured tornado victims. I knew I didn't have any of my magic left to help anyone else for a few hours. Anything that happened between Aleister unfreezing time and me getting my magic back would have to be dealt with by the use of mortal medicine, not magic.

“I'll be close by,” Aleister assured me as he stepped back up to me, placing both of his hands on my shoulders. “He won't hurt the people here.”

His words somehow made me feel better. Even though I knew that Wyatt and his group of demons had killed Aleister once, just the fact that he was going to stay close to the hospital to make sure Wyatt didn't attack anyone made the pressure in my chest ease up the slightest bit.

Moving my gaze from my hands back to Aleister, I nodded to him, silently telling him that I trusted him. The fact that he had died trying to keep Wyatt away from me was all I needed to grant him that trust.

He once again dropped his hands to his sides and took a small backwards step, letting me make my own way to the curtain's opening. I hesitated when I realized that the hand from before still had a hold of the edge of the curtain. Looking back to Aleister to make sure they wouldn't notice me, I watched as he gave me a slight nod. I took a deep breath and slowly made my way past the curtain, recognizing the doctor who was about to enter the enclosure. It was David.

As I stepped away from his frozen form, I realized that Wyatt was only a few paces behind him. My breath caught at the first glimpse of him. He looked exactly the same as he did that night at my apartment, except this time there was a small amount of blood smeared across his cheek.

Steadying my breathing, I reminded myself that they were all frozen. No one could see me moving through the waiting room.

I made my way past all of the people, making sure not to bump into any of them as I went. The last thing I wanted was a blood trail that led Wyatt directly to me. Making my way to the bathroom, I quickly walked to the sink, washing all of the blood from my hands. I jumped when the door opened and another nurse walked in.

“Oh, Kathleen, there you are!” The woman said, the dark brown pony tail on the side of her head bobbing as she walked up to me.

“Were you looking for me, Bayley?” I asked as I pulled a paper towel from the dispenser beside the sink, trying to hide the fact that she had startled me.

“David was looking for you,” she informed me as she let the bathroom door shut behind her. “There's a man looking for his brother, and he thinks that his brother was brought here. David knows who he may be talking about, but he can't find the man. He was wanting to ask you about it.”

My stomach started doing nervous flips as I realized what was going on. David had been leading Wyatt to Aleister. Wyatt had to be lying, telling David that Aleister was the brother he had been looking for. I knew exactly why David wanted to ask me about it. I was the last person to see Aleister.

“Okay, I'll go find him.” I tried to give Bayley my best smile as I threw the paper towel in the trash can and walked past her to the door. After opening it, I was met with the sounds of the busy hospital once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!  
> <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a death in this chapter. I know I've written death scenes before, so everyone should be used to it, but even my sister said this one was rough. So here's a warning for everyone reading, this one may be a trigger.  
> Thank you for everyone who's stuck with me through this series. =]

After leaving Bayley in the bathroom, I scanned the hallway for any sign of David or Wyatt. I didn't see anyone, so I made my way back into the full waiting room. As I stepped through the entrance, David caught my attention with a wave, his face holding a relieved expression at seeing me.

“Kathleen, can you come help me please?” he called before turning his eyes back to the man standing in front of him.

My stomach started turning as I looked at Wyatt. He was watching me, a curious gleam in his eye as he looked me up and down. I was almost certain that the blood smeared across his left cheek was from Aleister. 

I tried to remain as calm as possible as I approached them, but I had a growing fear that Wyatt would hear the uneasiness in my voice. “What can I help you with?”

“This man is looking for his brother,” David said as he motioned toward Wyatt. “I think his brother was the man who was brought in earlier that was found in the alley a few blocks away, but I can't seem to figure out where he's been placed.”

David was watching me with a worried expression, so I took him by the elbow to pull him aside before whispering to him. “I cleaned up his body and left him where he was. I hadn't had a chance to get anyone to move him to the morgue yet. Isn't he still there?”

The butterflies in my stomach felt like they were trying to force their way out as I told David the lie, hoping my shaking voice wouldn't betray me as I tried to act surprised. I shot a quick glance back to Wyatt after I spoke, making sure he was still there. I found him watching me still, almost like he was trying to see past the illusion that Aleister's magic had created. It only made my insides twist further.

“He was dead?” David asked, forcing my attention back to him. His voice was pitched low so that Wyatt couldn't hear him, but I was almost sure that the demon could hear us just fine.

“He was dead when I got into the room. The paramedics had already called the time of death and were about to start cleaning him, so I told them to go on since they were needed to find the other victims.” Without meaning to, I moved my gaze behind David, watching all of the people walking around us. None of them looked like demons who would be helping Wyatt, but I wasn't certain. We could have been surrounded, and I wouldn't have been able to tell until they started showing their true forms.

David ran a hand through his short hair before heaving a small sigh. “He isn't there anymore.”

Trying to add to my act, I asked him, “How can a body just disappear?”

“I don't know.” David stopped to shoot a quick glance to Wyatt just as I had done earlier, only leaving his attention there for a second before looking back to me. “My guess is that those two are in some gang. This has to be drug related. He seems too out of it to be sober in any way. That's probably what got the other man killed.”

Suddenly, a hand clamped down on my shoulder. I jumped as my heart pounded against my chest, turning to see Wyatt raising both of his hands, palms toward me in surrender. It was the same thing he had done when he'd startled me in my apartment.

“Have you figured out where my brother is?” He asked slowly, placing an odd emphasis on the word “brother.”

“I'm sorry,” David said in a professional tone as he placed both of his hands on my shoulders and almost pulled my back against his chest trying to keep me away from Wyatt. It was probably an attempt to calm me down. It wasn't working. “The man I was thinking of has already been identified by his family. I'm afraid your brother isn't here.”

I wasn't about to call David out on his lie. Lies would be what kept us safe at that moment. 

Wyatt stared at David before a slow smile spread on his lips. His denim blue eyes slowly made their way from David's face to mine before his smile faded and the perplexed look returned to his face. The way he was eyeing me made my skin crawl. Even if I hadn't known he was a demon, it would have been uncomfortable.

I felt David's fingers tighten on my shoulders the slightest bit, and I knew he got the same unsettling feeling from Wyatt as I did. If he only knew, I thought to myself as I tried to control my breathing.

“Well,” Wyatt started as he took a deep breath and lowered his hands, “I guess I'll just have to check the next hospital. I'd hate to think of someone I love so dearly lying in agony without me being there.” The smile crept back to Wyatt's lips then, and I could only imagine that he was picturing Aleister in pain. He would be the kind of psychopath to get joy out of other people's misery.

As quickly as it had appeared, Wyatt's smile vanished. He scanned his eyes across the room one last time, almost as if he were checking again for Aleister. “I just wonder why he was so close to this hospital in the first place...” Wyatt trailed off as his gaze landed on me once more. I felt a chill run through my body as he nodded his head in my direction, but without another word, he turned and walked toward the exit of the hospital.

After Wyatt had stepped through the door, David released his grip on my shoulders and relaxed his own body. I turned to him, remembering that I should probably be more concerned with the lost corpse.

“What are we going to do about the brother?” I asked, feigning ignorance with the whereabouts of Aleister.

“I'll check the whole hospital. If I can't find him, then we won't worry about it.” David sounded sure of himself, but his answer actually took me off guard.

“We'll just ignore a missing dead guy?” I questioned, not having to fake my surprise that time.

“With as many people as we've had come through tonight, no one will notice if a man who didn't even have any paperwork filled out goes missing.” After seeing my bewildered gaze, he went on, his voice softening. “I don't want you to get in trouble for this since you were the last person with the brother.” 

David's worry for my responsibility amazed me and relieved me all at once. If anyone found out about a misplaced dead body and the fact that David and I were both just ignoring it, we would both lose our jobs. But he was willing to risk it to keep me from having to explain why I hadn't called anyone to take the body to the morgue in the first place.

Almost like he needed to reassure himself as well as me, David said, “I've seen situations where people had taken certain drugs and were declared dead, only for them to get up and walk away. That may be the case here.”

I quickly wondered why I hadn't thought of that. That was the perfect explanation for Aleister's missing body, especially since David already thought Wyatt was some drug dealing gang member.

“Excuse me, David.” Another one of the doctors at the hospital interrupted our conversation as he walked up to us. “The department head said that we were no longer taking in patients because of being over maximum capacity. If you want to go on home, you can. I know you've been here all day.” The other doctor smiled sympathetically at David as he spoke.

I felt a wave of relief wash over me with the other doctor's statement. That meant that no one else would be needing my magic any time soon. I was glad because I still hadn't regained enough of it to actually help anyone unless their only injury was a paper cut—and even that would be stretching myself thin.

“Thank you, Xavier. I just need to do one more thing, then I'll be ready to go.” David returned Xavier's smile before turning back to me. He waited until Xavier walked away before speaking again. “I'll take the time to search to the whole hospital for that body. I'll let you know if I find it.”

With that, David walked away, heading for a wild goose chase through the hospital for a corpse that wasn't there anymore. 

I took a deep breath as I walked over to the window to look out into the cloudy night sky. I needed to think about everything that had happened. Wyatt was out looking for me, but he didn't seem to recognize me when he was at the hospital. He and his group of demons had killed Aleister after he wouldn't tell Wyatt where I was. Was I really that important to have in his battle, I wondered as I tried to see past the rain falling from the sky. I guessed that if Wyatt thought Balor would kill him, he was desperate to have me in his ranks.

With a start, I realized that there was a crow sitting in the tree by the parking lot. Its focused gaze was fixed on me, and I suddenly felt a little more at ease about the whole situation. Aleister had stayed true to his word and stuck around long enough to make sure Wyatt left without incident. 

 

I had spent the next half hour checking up on all of the patients that I had been helping before. All of them seemed to be settling in for the night, which was a good thing considering it was already closing in on midnight.

“Kathleen.” I heard David quietly call to me as I stepped out of the last person's room. He motioned for me to follow him down the hall to a less populated area, so I let him lead the way. When he finally stopped walking, he told me what I already knew. “I couldn't find it anywhere.”

I tried for my best disappointed look, hoping that was how David expected me to feel after hearing that news.

“Don't worry,” he said, placing his hand on my upper arm. “That probably means that he wasn't dead after all and he left.”

“I hope that's what happened,” I whispered, trying to sound worried about it. The only thing that worried me was the fact that Wyatt was out roaming the streets in an attempt to find me.

“Hey, how about I make us something to eat,” David offered, trying to lighten the mood I was in. “You heard Xavier. We aren't taking in anymore patients. You've been here just as long as I have, so we can both get out of here and get our minds off of this.”

His offer actually sounded like a good idea. I didn't want to risk going home alone and being followed by Wyatt. The way he had been staring at me already told me that he could tell something was off about my appearance. Leaving the hospital with David would be the least suspicious thing I could do at that point. Plus, getting some food in my system would help me get my strength back after I had brought Aleister back to life.

 

We took David's car back to his house after he assured me he would bring me back to the hospital for mine after we had eaten. He was actually a really good cook, preparing chicken alfredo and mixed vegetables. The conversation during our late dinner was focused around anything but what had went on at the hospital that night. David asked about my parents and if they had been in the bad weather, but I had already called and checked on them, making sure that they were safe at home. After we were done eating, I decided to help David clean up the dishes. 

As much as I thought the evening would help keep my mind off of Wyatt, I couldn't help it when my thoughts drifted back to the demon and his whereabouts. I hadn't even thought about possibly putting David in danger if Wyatt had recognized me at the hospital, but that was exactly what I had done. Wyatt could have easily followed me to David's house and decided to use him as a means to get me to join him.

“Kathleen?” David's deep voice pulled me from my thoughts as I absentmindedly dried the last of the dishes to put away. “You seem distracted. Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I answered as he easily took the plate from my hands and put it in the cabinet. “I was just thinking.”

“About what?” He asked, turning to give me his full attention after pulling the stopper from the sink to let the water drain. His dark brown eyes were concentrated on me as he waited for my answer.

Not wanting to get him mixed up with demons and magic, I decided to give him the most believable answer. “That body.”

David sighed as he dried his hands off with the towel I had been using, then stepped toward the living room. I followed him, not wanting to be left standing in the kitchen alone.

“You really don't need to worry about it,” he started as he sat down on the large sofa, watching me. “Like I said, he was probably just in a drug induced coma and he just woke up when you left him. He's probably out wandering the streets right now.” David was trying to assure me, but he didn't sound too sure of his words himself. 

“You're probably right.” I was starting to feel guilty for making David worry about Aleister's body, so I decided to change the subject as I walked over to the large double window in the living room. “I don't think it's ever going to stop raining.”

“Well, they say April showers bring May flowers.” David laughed at the old saying as he glanced toward the window, the rain still coming down hard outside.

“They better be beautiful.” I mumbled absentmindedly about the flowers, turning my attention to the trees in David's front yard. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of a crow on one of the branches, but I saw nothing except green leaves and rain in the darkness.

“My view is beautiful.” David took me by surprise when I realized he had moved to stand beside of me.

David leaned down to capture my lips with his own, and I surprised myself by returning his kiss. I really did like David, and this was exactly the kind of distraction I needed for the night.

 

I wasn't sure when I had fallen asleep, but I was startled awake by the sound of a phone ringing. I rolled over in the bed and opened my eyes to see David reaching for the phone on the bedside table, picking it up slowly before putting it to his ear. I glanced over to his clock and realized it was only four in the morning. 

The plan had been for David to take me back to get my car from the hospital parking lot after we had eaten, but that had changed when David decided to make his feelings for me perfectly clear. My own feelings for him had been growing with each passing day, so we had both wound up in his bed, exhausted and ready for sleep.

“We need to go.” David's worried expression took all the happy fog from my mind as he jumped out of the bed and started getting dressed. “The police called your apartment and the hospital trying to reach you. Xavier saw you leave with me so he thought to call here.”

I jumped from the bed and started searching for my own clothes, my pulse picking up. “Why are the police looking for me?” I asked as I pulled my scrubs back on. I hadn't had time to go back to my apartment for a change of clothes after we had left the hospital earlier.

“There's a fire. It's at your parents house.”

All the blood drained from my face as my stomach dropped. My parents lived an hour away from the city I was in. I needed to hurry and get to them. I was sure the fire had something to do with Wyatt.

I rushed out of the bedroom and slipped my shoes back on before running toward the front door.

“Wait,” David called out to me from the doorway as I stepped out into the cool, early morning air. The rain had finally stopped, but I wasn't sure that was a good thing if there was a fire. “The firefighters are there already. I'm sure your parents are okay.”

“I need to get there.” Even if the firefighters were already at my parent's house, if there were demons involved then there was no telling what would happen.

“I'll drive you. You're car isn't even here.” David grabbed his keys as we both rushed to his car.

I reached for the handle of David's new Mazda Miata, but something in the trees caught my attention. There was the crow, looking ready to take off. His forest green eyes were watching me, seemingly waiting for something.

As I pulled the car door open, I kept my eyes on Aleister and shouted, “Go!”

With no further words needed, Aleister took off in the direction of my parents house, his wings carrying him through the night. I jumped into the car and slammed the door closed behind me as David hit the gas.

“Which way?” he asked as he reached the road.

I gave him directions as we went, my nerves twisting and turning during the whole ride there. I kept my eyes trained on the sky, watching out for Aleister, but I knew his wings were probably faster than the vehicle. 

I saw the flames as soon as we pulled into the small road that my parent's lived on.

“It's still burning.” It had been almost an hour since David had gotten the call, but the house was still on fire. I knew then that it had to be demons.

Before David even got stopped in the road in front of the house, I started unbuckling my seat belt. The firetruck was still there, but I couldn't see any firefighters. The red and white lights on top of the truck were still flashing, but there was no one around it. The two story house was completely engulfed in the flames, but it appeared to be fully intact still. After burning for so long, it should have already collapsed.

I jerked the car door open as soon as we stopped moving, not waiting for David to put the car in park. I ran toward the flames, ignoring his yell for me to stop. I needed to make sure my parents weren't in the house.

As I reached for the doorknob, I heard a loud crow's caw. I knew that Aleister had to be close by because of that, but I didn't stop to look for him. I pushed the door open and more flames escaped toward me. Throwing my arm over my face, I made my way into the living room.

The fire licked at all of the furniture, but I didn't pay much attention to the material things that were being destroyed. My parents' lives were worth more than that, so I needed to make sure they were okay. If I could find them, I could heal them.

The heat from the fire was causing sweat to bead on my skin, but I pushed on, knowing that I could fix my own wounds later. I dodged flames through the hallway, peeking into the kitchen to make sure no one was there. There weren't even any of the firefighters in sight, so I knew they all had to be at the back of the house. 

The smoke was getting thicker the farther into the house I went, and it was causing my eyes to water. I tried to blink them clear, but it wasn't working. When I finally made my way to the bedroom door, I started coughing, finding it harder and harder to catch my breath. It seemed as though the fire was thicker in the back of the house, almost like it had originated from the bedroom.

After trying to take a deep breath, I pushed the bedroom door open. My heart wasn't ready for what I had seen.

The fire was only along the edges of the room, not spreading to the middle. It was as if there were a force field around the center of the room. The heat had busted the glass out of the window, the flames shooting out of the opening like a candle in the night, but that wasn't what had caught my attention. It was what was in the center of the room that had my heart breaking.

Lying on the floor around the bed were four firefighters, their bodies still and lifeless. On the bed, almost as if someone had set the whole scene up for me to find, were my parents. They were both lying on their backs, their arms crossed over their chests. Their clothes were full of burns and their skin was blackened, like they had been directly in the fire for some time.

The liquid dripping from my eyes then had nothing to do with the smoke. I let out a scream as I ran for the bed, stepping over the bodies of the firefighters. I knew I didn't have enough magic to save everyone, so my first instinct was to go to my parents. If I could heal my mom, she could help with everyone else.

My mind started racing as I felt for my magic after I made it to the side of the bed. It had been at least five hours since I'd brought Aleister back to life, but not all of my magic had returned.

Taking a deep breath, I decided I had to try to do what I could with what I had. I placed both of my hands against my mom's chest and sent up a silent prayer, begging for this to work. Focusing on my magic, I forced it all against the palms of my hands, letting the pressure build before taking another breath. The smoke entered my lungs, burning my throat as it went, but I fought through the urge to cough.

As I exhaled the breath, I forced my magic into my mom. The light red glow surrounded her entire body in a burst of brightness as my magic made its way into her. I pushed as hard as I could, making myself stay upright as my head started spinning.

Once I was completely empty, I looked back down to her. Her skin had regained some of it's normal color, but the burn marks remained. With horror, I realized that her eyes weren't opening. I quickly moved my hand to her neck then, hoping that I would feel her pulse.

Nothing.

“No, no, no...” I mumbled to myself as I tried to feel again, still not finding a heart beat. My own voice sounded foreign as I continued to speak. “No, this has to work. You have to wake up and heal Dad. I don't have anything left.”

“Kathleen.” Aleister's voice surprised me, and I looked up to see him standing in front of the busted window, his hands covered in blood. “One of Wyatt's friends was here, but he got away from me...”

He trailed off as he came up to me, looking down to my parents' bodies.

“I can't fix it!” I cried out to him, slowly coming to the realization that my magic hadn't been recharged enough to bring my mom back to life. “I can't do anything! You have to help them!”

Aleister looked between me and my mom's lifeless corpse before placing his hand on her forehead. “I don't think she's been gone long...” He took a breath as a pale blue light started forming around him and my mom's body. “If she hasn't been gone for too long, I may be able to help. Her soul may still be here, so I won't need anything else...”

I watched, feeling anxious and impatient as he closed his eyes and started speaking in what sounded like an ancient language. Suddenly, the light of his magic exploded around us with such force that it forced the bedroom door closed once again. It disappeared only a second later. I felt my breath catch as I realized my mom had started gasping for her own air.

“Kathrine! No!” Her screams filled my ears as she began writhing on the bed, obviously still in pain.

“I brought her back but I can't heal her wounds,” Aleister said, speaking quickly to me. “Do you have any magic left?”

“No, I used it all before!” My heart beat sped up as I heard my mom's agonized screaming, her injuries still too much for anyone to survive. 

I knew I had to do something, so I placed my hands on her chest in an attempt to hold her still. When I made contact, however, she acted as if I'd hurt her. Her burned skin was incredibly sensitive to touch, but I needed her to be still so that I could try to give her anything I had left.

I focused as hard as I could on my magic, pushing everything I had into her body. When I realized that nothing was moving, though, I began panicking again. Tears started falling once more as I turned my eyes up to Aleister.

“Kathrine, go!” My mom's voice called out over the roar of the flames, but she didn't have a chance to say anything else. 

Suddenly, the fire engulfed the bed. I stumbled back over one of the firefighters, but Aleister caught me. I tried to stand back up and run for the bed, but Aleister's arms wrapped themselves around me to hold me in place against his chest. The sounds of my mother's shrieks filled my ears, but I couldn't do anything to stop them.

“Come on, we need to go.” Aleister's tone was an attempt at soothing, but it wasn't close.

“Kathleen!” I heard David's voice then. It sounded like he was in the living room, but I wasn't sure. “There are more firefighters here now! Where are you?”

My mom's screams had finally stopped. Trying to look anywhere but at the bed, I turned my attention to Aleister, moving out of his arms so I could face him. He was watching the flames around my parents, his face somber.

“Why didn't you heal them?!” I screamed at him as I flung my arm in the direction of the bed. The flames were growing higher and they had started moving toward me and Aleister then.

“I can't heal anyone. I only brought her back to life.” His attention moved to me then as he gave me a sympathetic stare. “I'm so sorry, Kathleen.”

“This is all your fault!” I yelled, unsure of where the accusation had come from. My mind had gone from devastated to angry in a matter of seconds, and I needed someone to lash out at. “If I hadn't brought you back, I could have had enough magic to bring my mom back! She could have fixed my dad! They would still be here!”

The look on Aleister's face screamed regret, but he didn't speak.

“Kathleen, are you in there?” That wasn't David's voice calling my name anymore. It must have been another one of the firefighters, I thought as I moved my attention to the door.

“We need to get you out of here,” Aleister said as he moved his gaze between me and the closed door, reaching for me once again.

“ _We_ don't need to do anything!” I yelled as I tried to move away from him. I hadn't realized that the fire had gotten even closer to us, surrounding both me and Aleister, until it started warming the backs of my legs. “I'm staying here with my parents! You need to go!”

As I spoke the words, the doorknob on the bedroom door started moving. Aleister seemed conflicted as he moved his gaze between the door and me. Seconds before the door swung open, Aleister turned into his crow and flew out the window he had come in through, leaving me in the room with the dead bodies and the firefighters trying to pull me away from them.


	4. Chapter 4

My parents' funeral was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life. The last couple of days had gone by in a blur of sympathetic faces asking how I was holding up and offering me words of comfort, none of which worked. David stayed by my side through it all, being the only thing to keep me grounded in reality, but that only made me worry for his safety. If Wyatt didn't care to kill my parents and four firefighters, then he wouldn't hesitate to kill David. That was why I had to tell him I wanted to be by myself when I left the cemetery a few hours earlier. Walking into my empty apartment, I started to wonder if I really needed to be alone after all.

As I stepped into the kitchen, grabbing a glass out of the cabinet, I heard a familiar cawing sound. I released a long sigh as I realized who it must have been outside, my grip on the still empty glass tightening. I hadn't even had time to change out of my black dress before he decided to show up.

I hadn't seen Aleister in two days, since that night in the burning house. I had gotten upset and lashed out at him, even though my logical mind knew he was only trying to help me. I just couldn't shake the thought that if I hadn't used all of my magic to bring Aleister back to life earlier that night, I would have had enough to help my mom, and she could have helped my dad. If it weren't for saving him, I would have still had both of my parents. I was sure Aleister knew that as well.

A quiet knock on my front door shook me from my thoughts.

“Go away,” I yelled toward the door, not wanting to see Aleister again. 

“I need to talk to you now that you're finally alone.” I barely heard his quiet voice through the door. “I need to see that you're okay.”

His words set off a fire inside me. I slammed the glass down on the counter, thankfully not shattering it, and stormed toward the door, yanking it open as I unleashed my emotions on Aleister once again.

“You want to know if I'm okay?” I asked him, my tone disbelieving. He immediately took a step back into the night, obviously not expecting my outburst. Staying quiet, he let me answer the question.

“I'm just fine, Aleister.” The sarcasm wasn't lost on him. “I just buried both of my parents. They died because that demon was looking for me and wanted to lure me out. I'm sure he knows where I am by now! He had to have heard my mom _screaming_ my real name while she was _dying for the second time_ , thanks to you!” 

My voice got louder and tears started running down my cheeks as I remembered the sounds of my mom's screams in the flames. I was mad at myself for not being able to save them. I was scared of the fact that Wyatt was still out there. All of those emotions needed to go somewhere, and Aleister was standing in front of me, ready to take them.

I let go of the doorknob and turned my back on Aleister, not wanting him to see me crying. I had done a good job at controlling my tears around other people, and I didn't want to mess that up just because he knew what had really happened.

I heard Aleister step into the apartment and quietly shut the door before I felt his fingertips gently grab onto my bare elbow. The light touch of his skin felt like a static shock where we made contact, and it made my breath catch. “Kathrine, I was only trying to help you. I'm so—”

“Don't say you're sorry!” I ignored the burning feeling his fingers left on me as I turned on him and smacked his hand off of me with my other one, not expecting him to be as close as he was. His eyes widened the slightest bit, but he didn't move away that time. “If you were sorry, you would find some way to fix it.”

“If I could turn back time and change things, I would.” His tone was still even as he kept his gaze trained on me, trying to diffuse the situation. “I don't have what I need to bring them back again, though. It's too late now.” His cool, collected state only furthered my rage.

“I know it was Wyatt who killed them, but I couldn't help them because of _you_.” I spat the words at him as I wiped my face with my palm, trying to dry it off. Through my tears, I saw regret flash across his face, the slight misstep on his part a surprise for me. Aleister had been so good at hiding his emotions until then. He was losing his normally calm demeanor, which made me wonder just how much my anger was affecting him. Surely he could just walk away and forget all about me, I thought to myself. He hadn't known me for long. What would it matter to him if Wyatt killed me? What would it matter if I blamed him for my parents' deaths? He shouldn't care.

I raised my hand to jab a finger at him as I spoke my next words. “I don't need your sympathy visit. You have no reason to care if I die or not. It's none of your business.”

Aleister wrapped his warm fingers around my trembling hand, stopping me from poking him in the chest again. He took a deep breath as he held eye contact with me. I couldn't help the way his firm grasp helped to steady me and made me sway at the same time. I was starting to feel like my mind and body were in a war with each other, each wanting separate things. My mind wanted to be left alone. My body wanted to be held and told everything would be alright, even if it was a lie.

“You think this is a sympathy visit?” he asked, his brows furrowing together as he studied my face, keeping my hand in his.

“Why else would you be here?” I couldn't think of any other reasonable excuse except that he wanted to make himself feel better by checking up on me.

“I'm here because I care about you and your well-being. I can tell you've just been going through the motions for the past two days, but I want you to know that I'm here to help you if I can. Tell me what I can do to help you through this.” Aleister almost sounded helpless, yet another surprise for me.

I took a step backward as I forcefully pulled my hand from his, putting more distance between us, but Aleister didn't let it stay there. He moved toward me once again. The intoxicating scent of pine trees flooded my senses, making me think of his bird perched on high branches, but I needed to stay focused on what I was trying to say.

“If you can't bring my mom and dad back, then the only way you can help me would be to just leave me alone.”

Aleister raised his hand as if he wanted to reach for me again, but he hesitated, changing his mind and letting it drop back down to his side. In the back of my mind, I almost felt disappointed.

“I can't just leave you alone when your future keeps changing.” 

I used both of my open palms to shove him in the chest, knocking him back a couple of steps. He couldn't hide his shocked expression before I saw it. “You said yourself that your future sight couldn't predict your magic. You're the reason my fate keeps changing! Stop interfering in my life!” 

“It always ends with you dying unless I interfere. I don't want to see you dead.” His gaze pierced mine as his voice dropped low, sending a chill down my spine, but the fire of my anger quickly warmed it back up. 

“If it meant that my family would still be here, I would rather be dead!”

Aleister didn't hesitate before reaching for me again. He moved his hands to the sides of my face and pulled me closer to him, crashing his lips against mine. My eyes widened and I froze for a split second, but without thinking, I reacted. I closed my eyes and returned his kiss, clutching at the black t-shirt against his broad chest with both of my balled up fists as my insides tangled in knots, begging for more.

My raw emotions were driving me to do anything but face reality. I didn't want to think about the fact that I had no family left. I didn't want to wonder when Wyatt would come back—if he would come back. The only thing I wanted was to keep my mind busy. Even though I felt like it was Aleister's fault that I couldn't help my parents, I couldn't stop myself from getting lost in his passionate touch. 

Aleister moved his hands from my face then, letting one rest on the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my long hair. The other one slid down to the small of my back, pressing me against him almost desperately, deepening the kiss further.

He slowly left a trail of fire as he moved his kisses from my lips, to my cheek, and over to my ear, allowing me to get a quick, shaky gasp of air before he mumbled against my skin, his warm breath causing a shiver to run through me.

“I've been trying to save you. Don't say such things.” His breathing was heavy and fast, matching my own as the words escaped his mouth, sounding almost like a plea.

I leaned against him, letting him hold me there as he tried to steady his breaths. That was the perfect moment for me to step away and regain my composure, but I couldn't force myself out of Aleister's arms. It wasn't because he wouldn't let go, but because I didn't want him to.

It was at that point that I lost all of my rational thoughts and took a step back, pulling him with me by his shirt toward the door to my bedroom. He unwrapped his arms from me and looked down into my eyes as he took the first step, almost as if he were making sure I knew what I was doing. When he didn't take the second step with me, I had to convince him.

I leaned against him again and wrapped my arms around his neck, this time standing on my tiptoes so that I could reach him since he wasn't doing me the favor of leaning down anymore. I started placing feather light kisses on his neck as I pressed my chest against his, wishing that there weren't any clothes between us. He wrapped his arms around my waist, seemingly giving in as he turned his head up so that I could have better access to his neck. Without warning, I softly bit down on his skin, causing his grip to tighten around me as what almost sounded like a low growl escaped his throat. The sound alone had my skin tingling. I absentmindedly wondered what other noises I could get him to make. 

With the tip of my tongue, I traced around the spot I had bitten, causing Aleister's breathing to become ragged once again. When I was done, I leaned up, whispering in his ear.

“This is how you can help me through this.” My voice sounded foreign to even my own ears as I tugged on Aleister's neck with my arms, trying once again to lead him to my bedroom. He had asked how he could help, and a good distraction was exactly what I wanted. 

His eyes met mine once again, this time taking on a predatory gaze. I didn't get to see them for long, however. When he realized that I was serious about what I had said, he took the lead.

Aleister tightened his grip around me again and leaned his head down, pressing a hard kiss against my lips as he started moving, making me walk backwards toward the bedroom door once more. I felt his tongue graze my bottom lip, and I gladly opened my mouth, giving him the entrance he wanted.

When I felt the cold wood at my back, I removed my hands from his neck to reach back for the handle. Without breaking the kiss, Aleister took both of my wrists in his hands, not letting me open the door. He pushed his body against mine, trapping me between him and the door. When I noticed a hardness pressing against my stomach, I felt a warm pool form between my legs.

Releasing one of my wrists, Aleister let his hand drop to my side, slowly pulling at the hem of my knee length dress. His fingertips barely grazed my skin as he tugged the fabric up, the touch making my legs tremble. The cool air against my thighs did nothing to calm the heat building inside of me, and I wrapped my one free hand around Aleister's neck once more to keep myself steady, arching my body into his even further.

Aleister finally broke the kiss, leaving me gasping for air as I waited to find out what he was going to do next. He pulled away just enough to look down into my face, intently watching me squirm as he moved his hand around to my inner thigh at an agonizingly slow pace, barely making contact with my skin. I could almost feel an electric current follow his hand as it found a perfect spot between my legs. With one fingertip, he lightly stroked the fabric covering the moist flesh there, eliciting a moan from me as I tried to force myself closer to his hand.

Still working at his own pace, he slipped one finger under the elastic of my panties and slid it between my delicate skin, running it from one end to the other until he found the bundle of nerves hidden there. I gasped and gripped onto Aleister's shoulder tighter as he moved his finger, his rhythm finally speeding up as he released a shaking breath of his own.

I felt my insides start to twist as he picked his speed up another notch, but he suddenly removed his finger before I could get the relief that my body was begging for. He released my other wrist and brought both of his hands to the top of my underwear, pushing them down my legs. Kneeling in the floor in front of me, he removed my panties fully before slowly standing back up to face me, once again raising the hem of my dress as he rose. He used one hand to hold the dress up at the small of my back, while he replaced the other one where it had just been.

This time, he took two fingers and inserted them inside of me, slowly pumping them in and out. My breaths started matching his rhythm as I let my head fall back against the door, my body once again begging for that sweet release. I found my hips rocking against him involuntarily, needing more than what he was giving me. With his thumb, he once again located my most sensitive area, rubbing small circles around it as he continued thrusting his fingers into me, finally quickening his pace once more.

As he continued his movements, I used both of my hands to reach for his belt, but he once again stopped everything.

“Not yet,” he whispered, his voice barely audible through his own heavy breathing as he used his free hand to gently push mine away from him. “You first. You need this.”

“I need you,” I argued around gasps as I reached up to easily take Aleister's lip ring between my teeth, gently tugging on it before running my tongue along his bottom lip.

That was all the convincing it took for Aleister to give in and let me unbuckle his belt. With trembling fingers, I released his hard erection from his pants, letting my thumb barely run over the tip of it. Aleister slowly removed his fingers from me then, moving both of his hands to my hips. In one swift motion, he lifted me off of the floor to press me against the bedroom door. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carefully lowered me, sliding himself in as he released a groan of pure pleasure.

I once again found my head falling back against the door as my body arched toward Aleister. He moved his hands to my bottom and started moving me up and down, slowly at first until we found our perfect rhythm. The wound up tension inside of my body was finally set free as Aleister pushed harder and harder, causing me to grip his shoulders hard enough to leave marks through his shirt.

He gently placed me back on the floor after I had steadied my breathing, making sure to keep his arms wrapped around me as he reached for the door handle. Once we were inside my bedroom, he reached for the zipper in the back of my dress, finally deciding it was time to get rid of the clothes. 

 

I rolled over in the bed to find Aleister already awake, watching me with his striking green eyes. I wasn't sure what was going through his mind, but I knew the thoughts running through my own.

What had happened the night before was a mistake on my part. Aleister had stayed and given me what I had told him I needed—multiple times—but I didn't want to be in a relationship with some immortal magician, demons always surrounding us and searching for the both of us for various reasons. I had enough demon problems of my own; I didn't need his baggage to add to that. I wasn't sure what role he was playing in the battle that Wyatt continuously tried to get me to join in on, but I wanted no part of it. However, I couldn't deny the feelings stirring inside of me for Aleister.

When I thought about it, I remembered the night with David. I had feelings for him as well, but they were tame compared to what was building between me and Aleister. What David and I had was almost like an innocent school crush compared to the heat between myself and Aleister. If the situation were different, I might have even been able to fall in love with Aleister.

I mentally shook my head, pushing those thoughts aside. I wanted a normal human life with a normal human being. No demons. No more death.

Without a word, Aleister sat up. I watched as he silently gathered his clothes from the floor, redressing himself as he went. Again, I found myself studying the tattoos that decorated his body. There were several demons, angels, daggers, and symbols. It would have probably taken days for him to explain them all to me, but I shouldn't have wanted to know anyway. I shouldn't have been picturing us talking and laughing, having a normal conversation over dinner.

This time, I physically shook the thoughts from my head.

“I'm not going to bother you again.” Aleister's quiet words drew my attention to him once again as he pulled his t-shirt over his head. “If I stay out of your life, just like you asked, I would be able to better see what your future holds.”

“What are you saying?” I asked as I sat up and pulled the blanket around my bare body.

He sighed and sat back down on the edge of the bed, placing his hand on my covered knee as he held my gaze. “I'm saying that you were right. The best way I can help you now is to leave you alone.”

I suddenly felt an emptiness inside of me that I wasn't expecting. That was exactly what I had asked for—what I had told Aleister to do when he came over, but now that he was willing to do it for me, I wasn't so sure it was still what I wanted.

“What about Wyatt?” I asked, wondering if he would come back to find me since he more than likely knew where I was.

“I'll still keep an eye on him. I won't let him get to you. I'll protect you, but you won't see me again.” Aleister stood up and walked over to the bedroom window, looking toward the rising sun in the sky. “I'll only interfere if your life is in danger.”

“That's probably for the best.” I agreed with him, but the sinking feeling in my stomach grew.

Aleister reached for the window, pulling it up to let in the cool morning air. The curtains softly flowed in the slight breeze, and I pulled the blanket closer around me. He turned and slowly walked over to me before bending down and placing a soft kiss on my lips.

“This is goodbye.”

With that, he turned back to the window and transformed in a cloud of smoke, his crow's body flying out into the morning sky.

 

**_Aleister_ **

Aleister left Kathleen there because that was what she had wanted. She really would be better off if he were more of a background character in her life, and he knew it. But it was killing him to know that he would never talk to her again, never hold her again, and never feel her soft skin against his own again. In such a short amount of time, she had grown to be important to him, and he couldn't figure out why. He couldn't get the old saying out of his mind, however: “If you love it, let it go.”

Aleister landed in one of the large, tall trees surrounding the hospital that Kathleen worked at, his large wings folding against the sides of his body. He knew she wasn't there, but he would wait until she came in, making sure that she arrived safely. 

After looking around to see that he was out of sight of the humans going about their days on the ground, he decided to find out just exactly how his decision to stay out of Kathleen's life would alter her future. He closed his eyes, balancing himself on the branch with his talons as he focused on the spell he needed to get a glimpse into the woman's future. When he started seeing the visions, he was taken aback.

He had initially gone farther into the future than he had intended, but he was glad for that mistake. 

The image of Kathleen holding a small baby flitted across his mind's eye. The tiny girl's irises were a mixed color of Kathleen's storm colored blue ones and his own moss green eyes, making them a unique teal color. His vision of the child's future started blurring, however, just as it did when he was trying to see into his own future. He saw bits and pieces, but nothing concrete like he got when he was watching any other person's fate play out. It was his magic that made that happen, which meant that this child held a small part of that inside of her.

Realization dawned on him as he came back to the present, wondering what on earth he was going to do about the situation once he had a child of his own to watch over as well.


	5. Chapter 5

I walked toward the nurse's desk at the hospital, ready to go home for the night. I had gone back to work the day after the funeral, a few hours after Aleister had left my house. I wanted to get back to my normal routine. If I could stay focused on helping everyone I could, it made me feel slightly better about not being able to help my parents.

As I stepped up to the nurse relieving me to give her my patient notes, I noticed David showing a young lady into one of the examination rooms. Her long black hair hung in her pale face, and her over-sized black t-shirt made her petite frame look even smaller than it probably was. She was grinning, but it didn't seem like a friendly smile. Something about her made me want to keep an eye on her, but I couldn't do that after David shut the door behind them.

Shaking off the feeling, I walked toward the elevator to get to the first floor exit. I could just ask David about her later, I thought to myself as I stepped out into the crisp night air. Looking around the trees surrounding the parking lot, I caught myself searching for a particular bird, but the branches were bare. Not that I even expected to see the crow there.

“You know, Balor is the one who burned your parent's house down, Katherine.”

The sudden whispered voice from behind me had me spinning to find the owner. The person using my real name was a surprise, but once I processed what he had said, it didn't take long to guess who it was. When my eyes fell on Wyatt, my stomach dropped. Thanks to the few lights in the parking lot, I saw a dark expression fixed on his face as he watched for my reaction to his lie. 

Trying to stand tall after regaining my composure, I replied to him. “No he isn't. That was you.”

I wasn't going to get played by him so easily. As frightening as it was to have him there in the parking lot of the hospital, I refused to let him see how shaken he made me. Ever since the fire, I had a feeling that he had been there at my parents' house and knew exactly who I was, but I had hoped he wouldn't bother me in a public place. 

Wyatt placed one hand above where his heart should have been and widened his eyes, almost like he was offended. “You think I would do such a thing?”

“One of your demon friends was there,” I told him, remembering how Aleister had said that one of Wyatt's men had gotten away from him.

Wyatt lowered his hand “You must mean Vince. He's got a knack for controlling things, so he was the one who controlled the fire around the house until you got there. It's a good thing, huh? Otherwise you wouldn't have gotten to see your mom one last time.”

The slow smile that crept onto his lips had my hair standing on end. I took a step back and looked around the parking lot, thankfully not seeing anyone else near us. I thought that if I could just get Wyatt away from the hospital, at least everyone in the building would be safe, even if I wasn't.

“Of course, I had to check on your parents as well. Imagine my surprise when the black magician showed up!” Wyatt held his arms out to the sides and turned his head, almost as if he were looking around for Aleister. When his eyes landed on me once again, the smile instantly vanished from his face, leaving a deadpan stare. “Too bad he isn't here now.” He lowered his arms and started pointing a finger in my direction as he went on, casting his gaze to the ground in front of me. 

“You know, when I realized you were friends with the crow, I had my own friend do a little research. She's a witch, and she knows all about magic tricks—like hiding your appearance. So now I can actually see the real you instead of the over-weight, middle aged lady that you once looked like.” Wyatt looked back up to me then and squinted his eyes. “This look suits you much better.”

“Just leave me alone.” I took another small step back, little by little making my way to my car. “I don't want to help you. Find someone else.”

Wyatt heaved an exasperated sigh as he stared at the ground between us once more, almost like he didn't like making eye contact. “I didn't want it to come to this.” His lowered voice made me shiver as fear ran through me. He raised his head to look at me then, continuing his threat. “Your parents are gone. Who else do you have that would miss you?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, my nerves twisting in panic.

“That must be why you won't help me.” He took a slight step in my direction, causing me to back up once again. “You don't want to leave the people you love to help me. You're afraid they'll find out what you're doing. Right?”

“That has nothing to do with it,” I told him, casting my eyes once more around us. There was still no one else in the parking lot. A small part of me had hoped to see Aleister since he had said he would still keep Wyatt away from me, but I couldn't hold him to that promise since I had told him to leave me alone.

“Of course that has something to do with it.” The smile slid back to Wyatt's face then. “But I'll take care of it.” He turned to look back toward the hospital, leaving his back open to me. If I were stronger, it would have been the perfect opening for me to attack him, but I knew it would do no good. 

Wyatt's next, cryptic words took all thoughts of attack from my mind. “Did you see the young lady that Doctor Baker is seeing right now?”

My eyes flew to the third story of the hospital, looking for the window of the room David had taken the woman into. She had given me a strange feeling, but I would have never thought she would have been attached to Wyatt. I was apparently very wrong.

“Her name is Abigail, and she is the friend I mentioned earlier. One signal from me, and the doctor will die.”

“You can't hurt him!” My voice was louder than I had intended, and I unconsciously took a step toward Wyatt's back.

Before I could do anything to him, he spun back around and gave me a hard look. “Yes, I can. Unless you cooperate with me.”

“You can find other healers, I'm sure! Just please leave us alone!” I had started begging, not caring anymore if Wyatt knew how much he had gotten to me.

He studied my face for a short moment, and I thought that maybe he was actually thinking over my words. Instead of saying anything, though, he only whistled. One short, high-pitched noise.

Suddenly, the glass in one of the third story windows burst out and into the grass beside the building. My eyes immediately flew in that direction, panic setting in. The woman, Abigail, had David by the throat, pushing him as his upper body leaned over the edge of the window frame. It seemed like David was fighting, but he wasn't getting anywhere. One of his hands was trying to pry Abigail's grip from around his throat, while the other was reaching down, trying to use the bricks of the hospital to push himself back into the window.

I didn't hesitate to say exactly what Wyatt wanted to hear. “Stop! I'll help you, just stop!”

“No!”

The voice came from the shadows as I watched a faintly familiar looking white tiger jump for Abigail's neck, pulling her from the window. To my horror, she didn't let go of David until he was fully outside as well. I started running to David before his body hit the ground, knowing that I wouldn't make it. Things seemed to start moving in slow motion as I watched David land in the broken glass, each shard cutting through his clothes and into his skin as some of his bones broke on impact.

By the time I made it to David, Abigail had gotten away from the tiger, and the large animal had turned its attention to Wyatt. I reached for David, but knew that fall had killed him without even having to check. Luckily, I could bring him back as long as Wyatt stayed away from me.

Turning all of my attention to David, I hoped that the tiger was on my side as I rested my hands on David's chest. I went through the motions of concentrating and gathering my magic before releasing it all into him, the red light surrounding him until his heart beat came back and his bones cracked back into place. The dizziness that I was used to fighting off after using all of my magic didn't hit me as I sat back to inspect David's still bloody body. It was odd, but I wasn't going to complain. If I didn't have to worry about the fatigue, then that would be better for me.

David's dark eyes slowly opened as he gasped for breath, meaning that I was successful in bringing him back. He tried to jump to a sitting position first thing, but I kept my hands pressed against his chest to hold him down.

“Easy. Slowly.” I mumbled to him as I removed my hands from his chest, hoping he wouldn't run away screaming because of what had just happened.

His eyes grew wide as he sat up and looked behind me. “What is that? Is that the weird guy who was looking for his dead brother? What happened to me?”

I turned my head and ignored David's questions as I watched the huge feline pounce for Wyatt's neck. The demon side-stepped the fangs, though, as he pulled a short dagger from his pocket. I stared at the blade, wondering why a demon would need a knife. On the end of the red hilt was a black orb, but it didn't look like it was doing anything to strengthen the blade.

When Wyatt slashed the blade toward the tiger, it jumped back, running toward the shadows in the back of the building.

“Where is he?” Wyatt asked himself as he started spinning in circles, his eyes darting from one place to another.

“I'm right here.” 

My stomach flipped as I realized why the tiger looked familiar. From the darkness at the corner of the building where the tiger had run to, Aleister appeared. The tiger was walking beside him, but with one touch of Aleister's fingers, a white light surrounded the beast and it returned to its place on Aleister's right hand again, once more a piece of art on his body.

“That's the dead guy,” David said, almost in a whisper. His amazement made me turn to look at him, his dark eyes watching Aleister with confusion before finding me. “Kathleen, what is going on?”

“It's a lot to explain, but I will once this is over,” I promised him before looking back to Aleister.

Wyatt looked between me and Aleister for a second before making a run for Aleister, the blade in his hand extended toward Aleister's chest. Aleister easily dodged it, jumping back and delivering a sharp kick to Wyatt's side. As Wyatt got his balance, he started transforming.

Dull grey eyes started glowing in Wyatt's face as his nose transformed into what looked like a dog's snout. Black fur started sprouting from his arms and face, covering his body in the thick hair. His hands, which grew in size, had claws sprouting from each fingertip. The muscles in his body seemed to grow, making him that much taller than Aleister.

Instead of being shocked by the transformation, Aleister seemed to be using the spare time wisely. He had removed his t-shirt and placed his hand over the green skinned devil on his back. The same white light that had surrounded the tiger suddenly surrounded the devil as Aleister seemed to pull the creature from his skin. As he moved his hand forward, the devil took shape and form, standing in front of Aleister.

“We need to call the police,” David said as his eyes flickered back and forth from Wyatt to Aleister before landing on me once more.

“And tell them what? A demon and a magician are trying to kill each other?” I asked him before realizing that my words seemed harsh. David had never seen anything like the sight in front of him, and I needed to keep that in mind.

I took a deep breath and turned to him, placing my hands on his shoulders. “We can't interfere with this. It's their battle.”

David seemed speechless, turning his attention back to the fight with wide eyes. I let go of his shoulders and turned back around so that I could see what was going on. 

Aleister and the devil were surrounding Wyatt, working together as if they shared a mind. At the same time, they both jumped for him. Aleister landed a flurry of kicks into Wyatt's stomach as the devil grabbed Wyatt's arms, twisting them behind his back almost as though he were holding Wyatt in place for Aleister. Once Aleister stopped the kicks, the devil dropped Wyatt's arms and placed its hands around Wyatt's large head.

The devil's scaled hands started glowing as it put more pressure on Wyatt, but Wyatt didn't let the devil finish its attack. From the tips of Wyatt's fingers, a bright green light started forming. Wyatt flicked his hand in front of himself as the light turned into one long string, almost like a whip.

With his whip, Wyatt attacked the devil behind him. The devil moved back as the whip grazed its face, a shriek of pain escaping its throat. Aleister started moving toward Wyatt then, but Wyatt quickly turned and slashed the whip toward Aleister, hitting him in his ribs with a harsh sound. Instead of just a whelp, the whip broke Aleister's skin, causing blood to start flowing from his chest.

Aleister fell to his knees then, still silent. His breathing suddenly turned even more ragged than it had just been as he leaned over and put his hands on the ground, almost like he was struggling for air after that one attack.

“How do you like that poison?” Wyatt asked as he eyed Aleister on the ground. “Getting harder to breath, huh?” 

Wyatt hit Aleister on the back with the whip two times before the devil attacked from behind. As the devil moved, I realized it had gotten the slightest bit slower, obviously feeling the effects from the poison that Wyatt had mentioned, even though it had just got one hit to the cheek.

While the devil had Wyatt distracted, I stood up to make a run for Aleister, hoping to heal him. Before I could move, though, David grabbed my wrist.

“I thought we couldn't interfere.” His grip was tight as he tried to get me to sit back down beside him.

“You can't interfere,” I told him as I used my other hand to pry his grip from my wrist. “I have to.”

I ran over to Aleister, studying the deep gashes on his back. He looked up to me from his position on his knees as he tried to pull in a breath, but it didn't appear to be working.

“Can't...breathe...” His words were short as he turned his head back down to the ground.

I knelt down in front of him and gently took his shoulders in my hands. His gaze flew to mine then.

“You... have more?” he asked through shallow breaths.

Without answering him, I felt for my magic. Instead of the empty reserve I expected to find, there was an odd sensation in my body that I had never felt before. I couldn't sense my own magic, but there was still something in there that I could give to Aleister.

I nodded my head and started concentrating on the odd feeling, noticing that it still felt like healer's magic. Aleister's head dropped as I focused, his breathing getting shorter and shorter. I used that as incentive to stop worrying about where the odd magic was coming from, and just use it. There wasn't as much as what I had at full strength, but there was enough to get rid of Aleister's poison. 

After forcing the magic to my palms, I released it all into Aleister. With a start, I realized it wasn't the same pale red light that I was used to seeing.

A beautiful amethyst glow flowed from my hands and through Aleister's body. The color was a breathtaking sight, and it felt more familiar after I started using it than I had expected it to. The tingling sensation almost shocked my own skin as I used the odd magic, but I didn't let that stop me. As it blasted through Aleister, he took a deep breath before going rigid.

“Stop.” Aleister moved his hand to my wrist as he stopped me from using anymore of the magic. My vision started fading in and out as Aleister sat up on his knees and searched my face—for what, I wasn't sure.

Suddenly, a bright white light hit Aleister in his back, but it didn't knock him over like I would have thought. I realized his devil had been defeated then, and was returning to its home on Aleister's now healed back.

“What's this?” Wyatt's voice was behind me, but it didn't seem like he was advancing.

I turned my head and tried to watch the demon, but the edges of my vision were still blurry. He was standing still, the green whip gone from his hands and replaced once again with the dagger. It almost looked like he was sniffing the air in my direction, but I couldn't be sure. Aleister's grip on my wrist tightened the slightest bit at Wyatt's movements.

“Looks like I get a fresh start. I don't need you anymore... Kathleen.” Wyatt slowly smiled in my direction before quickly turning and running off faster than I could see.

“What?” I asked as I looked back to Aleister, but his attention had moved to David, who was trying to walk toward us.

Without moving his gaze from David, Aleister whispered one word. “ _Ophouden_.”

I recognized that as the word he had used when he had frozen time before, after I had brought him back to life in the hospital.

David stopped moving, the cool night breeze stopped blowing, and all noises had gone quiet.

“We have some decisions to make,” Aleister said, his gaze moving from my eyes to my stomach.


	6. Chapter 6

Still knelt on the ground in front of Aleister, I took a deep breath as the edges of my vision came back into focus and my head stopped spinning as fast as it had been. I sat back on my legs then, my knees in the grass, and tried to think. 

Aleister had said that we had some decisions to make, and he was right. We needed to figure out how we were going to keep David from freaking out, and how we were going to keep him from telling everyone about what he had seen. It would either cause mass hysteria in the hospital, or he would be committed to an insane asylum. I didn't like either of those options.

“Is there anything you can do to keep David quiet about all of this?” I asked Aleister as I moved my gaze from him to David, then back to his fingers still around my wrist.

Aleister's brows furrowed as he slowly turned toward David once again. “I can take his memories of me and the magic away,” he assured me before moving his attention back to my face. “I can also take his memories of you.”

I watched as Aleister moved to sit cross-legged on the ground instead of keeping his position on his knees, still not letting go of my wrist. “Why would you take his memories of me?”

“Because he's in love with you.” Aleister's words weren't said with malice or jealousy. He was only stating a fact.

I could feel my cheeks warming with a blush as I turned to look at the grass between me and Aleister before whispering. “That isn't a bad thing.”

“It could be.”

I snapped my gaze back to Aleister's green eyes then. “Why is that bad?”

Aleister's expression softened as his grip on my wrist loosened. “Where did that last burst of magic that you used come from?”

“I don't really know,” I answered honestly, confusion growing. I wasn't sure what that had to do with David. “It was inside of me, but it didn't feel connected to me like my own magic does.”

“That's because it wasn't your own magic.” Aleister's gaze lowered once again to my stomach as he moved his hand from my wrist. He gently placed his palm against my shirt, right over my belly button—right where anyone would feel for a...

My breathing stopped, and my eyes immediately sought out David. 

“No, no, no. David and I used—” Realization set in then as I slowly turned back in Aleister's direction, almost afraid to look at him. “It's yours.”

His next words were quiet, barely audible in the silence of frozen time. “She's _ours_.”

Too many emotions started swirling within me. Confusion, anger, excitement, worry, and a great sadness all mingled together, making me want to lose my lunch. How did Aleister already know that I was pregnant, much less that it was a girl? It had only been a day since he was in my bedroom. I had always wanted a family of my own one day, but not like this. Would using the baby's magic hurt her? And if the baby was Aleister's, where did that leave me and David? Where did it leave me and Aleister? My normal human life seemed to be becoming a distant dream.

I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, trying to calm my rising nerves. I decided to focus on one thing at a time. “How do you know?”

“I saw her in your future, but it's blurry. Just like when my magic is involved,” he admitted, taking his hand from me. The motion left me feeling like I was falling into a darkness alone, especially with my eyes still closed.

I opened my eyes then to try to get the vertigo to ease off, but it only helped a little. Instead of looking at Aleister's stare, I decided to absently study more of the tattoos decorating his chest as I thought, my body starting to shake with nerves.

“Is her magic already active? I didn't hurt her by using it, did I?” That had been my worry. If I had hurt the baby by stealing her magic, I would never be able to forgive myself. Even if she wasn't planned, I already knew that I would protect her with my life.

“As of right now, her magic isn't activated yet. You pulled what had already formed from our magic combining last night, but her developing body isn't going to make a lot more right now.” I took a quick glance at Aleister before moving my gaze once again to the space between us. He had taken on a thoughtful look as he pondered the situation. “You doing that may actually make it harder for her own magic to activate, since you used most of her starting source.” Aleister moved his fingers under my chin and raised my face to look at him then, a slight smile playing at his lips. “The magic is ours, so it wouldn't let you use enough to hurt her.”

With his reassurances, I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

“There's something that I may be able to do if you don't want her magic activating at all, but I'll need a little while to gather what I'll need,” he informed me as he moved his touch from me again, resting his hands on his knees.

“I would like that,” I whispered to him. “I don't want her on the demons' radars. Especially Wyatt's.” A shiver ran through my body as I remembered what Wyatt had said right before he left. He would be getting a “fresh start.” My child wasn't going to be his new prey.

“I'll start looking for what I need as soon as I can,” he replied with a slight nod, his tone saying that he agreed with me. “But what about that one?” 

Aleister pointed over to David, and I turned my head in his direction.

“Taking David's memories of me will let him get over me,” I whispered, more to myself than anything, as I placed my head in my hands and closed my eyes once again.

“It will.” Aleister's voice was still quiet, and I wondered just how he was feeling about everything. He obviously wanted me to leave David and everyone I had met here behind to stay with him, but I wasn't sure I could do that. After getting over the initial shock of the life growing inside of me, I needed to figure out what I was going to do about my own life.

“But... I like it here. I've gotten used to this place. These people are all I have left.” I had hoped that closing my eyes would stop the tears that were welling up inside me, but I felt them slip free anyway. My voice wavered, betraying my hidden eyes.

Aleister moved and his arms were suddenly around me in a hug, pulling me into his lap. His low voice was soothing as he ran a hand through my hair and let me lean my head on his bare shoulder. “You have me.” 

I opened my eyes then, raising my head to look into Aleister's face. His forest green eyes were almost pleading, something I'd never seen in them before, and his arms tightened around me. It was like he was begging me to say what he wanted to hear—to tell him that I wanted to stay with him and be a happy family. But how happy would a family surrounded by demons be? Would I really want to raise a baby around all the blood that comes with the magic and demons? Aleister had already said that he needed to make sure the battle between Wyatt and Balor played out the right way. How could he focus on a child if he needed to focus on those demons?

I took a shaky breath before telling him exactly how I felt, tears still falling from my eyes. “I don't want the baby growing up around such dangerous things.”

I could tell by the way he sighed and turned his head down that Aleister hadn't wanted to hear that, but he didn't argue the fact. Instead, he took me off guard by catching my eyes in his and asking a simple question. “Do you love the human man?”

“I do. It's a different love than what I feel for—” I stopped myself from going on. I was about to tell Aleister that it was a different love than what I felt for him, but admitting that to him would only complicate things more.

Aleister watched me, waiting for me to go on. The emotions flashing across his face told a tale of a war waging inside of him. I could tell he was organizing his thoughts while he waited on me to finish. 

When he finally realized I wasn't going to say anymore, he spoke, almost sounding defeated. “Then let him be there for her. Live your normal human life.” His voice was gentle, and he lightly stroked my back as the words fell from his mouth. “She'll be better off that way.”

I leaned my head back on Aleister's shoulder then, my tears once again falling to his skin. I was taking in everything as he comforted me, still rubbing small circles on my back with one of his hands while his light breath blew across the top of my head as he explained what he would do. “I'll make him believe that he saw the patient, nothing was wrong with her, and he walked outside. You can decide what to tell him from there.”

Not trusting my own voice, I nodded my head against his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his waist. He clung tighter to me with the motion.

After a moment of complete silence except for the sound of our breathing, Aleister turned his head down to whisper into my ear. “We don't have much longer here.”

I still couldn't be sure that my voice wouldn't crack, so I once again moved my head against his skin, wanting this moment to last forever. If only he could stop time for everyone except us for as long as we were alive. We wouldn't have to worry about any outside interference. However, I could feel Aleister's body starting to tremble, which I took as a sign that he was running out of time for his spell.

Taking a deep breath, I raised my head to meet Aleister's steady gaze. He moved his hands, placing them on either side of my face. With his thumbs, he gently wiped the tears from my cheeks before removing his hands from me completely.

With that, I found my way to my feet, stumbling once before finding my balance. Aleister was right beside me, making sure that I wasn't still feeling too dizzy from using all of my magic. When we were both up, we walked over to David.

I watched as Aleister moved to stand beside David, facing away from me. He placed one hand on David's shoulder, and then time started back.

David started moving toward me, but quickly stopped in his tracks when he realized how close Aleister and I already were, and that Aleister had a hold of him.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he focused on Aleister, who's hand was still tightly gripping David's shoulder.

With a few words from Aleister that I didn't recognize, David's face went blank and a sky blue light shone from his eyes. Aleister turned his head toward David, finally looking him in the face before closing his eyes, presumable planting the fake memories into David's mind. As soon as Aleister opened his eyes again, the glowing light disappeared. He released David then, walking behind him and away from us like nothing had happened.

“Kathleen, I'm glad you waited on me,” David said as his full focus shifted to me and a smile formed on his face. It was like he hadn't even noticed Aleister had walked away. He would never remember seeing him.

I tried to return his smile, but my eyes were locked on the retreating back until Aleister turned the corner of the hospital building.

“Are you okay?” David asked as he easily laid his hand against my upper arm.

I nodded my head and turned to David. “Yeah, I'm okay.”

 

Two weeks had passed before I decided exactly what I was going to do about the baby. I could feel that her magic had mostly returned to the level it had been before I used it, but it hadn't grown any. I found myself wishing that my own mother was still with me because I wasn't sure exactly what I should have been feeling. I didn't know if the baby's magic needed to be getting stronger yet, or if it staying the same meant that something was wrong.

I had spent days trying to figure out exactly what to do about David, as well. Aleister had told me that I could let David be the one to raise the baby, but I didn't know how David would feel about it. When the pregnancy test finally showed a positive result, I had decided that I would tell David that the baby was his.

As nervous as I was about the lie, David made it easier than I expected it to be. He seemed genuinely excited about the idea of raising a child with me—the idea of starting a family. There was a spark in his eyes and a smile on his face that wouldn't seem to disappear. He had immediately started talking marriage, which scared me more than I wanted to admit, but I was willing to commit to it if that was what he wanted. I loved him and wanted to make him happy, so that decision was easy to make.

One thought stayed in the back of my mind, however. Aleister had said that he may have known of a way to keep the baby's magic from activating at all, and I wondered if he still wanted to help me with that. 

As I sat up on my bed, I found myself looking through the window into the night sky. I had told David that I wanted to stay at my own apartment for the night so that I could pack more of my things to move into his house, but I really only wanted one last night alone with my thoughts. Luckily, I wasn't going to be alone.

Through the window, I saw a giant crow perched on a near-by tree. His green eyes seemed to be luminescent as he stared through the window, watching me as I stood up to raise the glass, allowing the April night air to blow in around me. Once I opened the window and took a step back, the bird started flying in my direction.

He came through the window and started changing form with a crunching sound, leaving the human Aleister standing in front of me, bathed in the moonlight streaming in through the opening.

For a short moment, neither of us spoke. I stood still, patiently waiting for him to say anything as I watched him look me over.

“How are you feeling?” His hushed voice barely broke the silence.

“I'm feeling okay,” I told him, quickly adding, “Her magic came back.”

A small smile found a home on his lips as he pushed his hand into the pocket of his black coat.

“Do you still want my help with her magic?” he asked, pulling something from his pocket. When he opened his hand, I found myself mesmerized by a tiny, crescent moon shaped pendant. It looked clear, allowing me to see straight through it to Aleister's palm.

“What is that thing?” I asked, inching closer to him to get a better look.

“This is a stone that will collect magic,” he started explaining as he looked down to the tiny moon. “At first, I thought that I would be able to take her magic from her now so that it wouldn't come back later, but it seems as though I can't do that. I would be too worried about her tiny body going into shock from the loss of her magic.”

“Then why do you need it?” I wondered, turning my gaze back up to him.

He closed his fingers around the stone and walked over to my bed, sitting on the edge as he heaved a sigh and stared at the floor. “The only thing I can think to do is put a spell on you that will let you directly siphon her magic from her if it ever awakens.”

“Then let's do that.” The idea sounded fine to me, but as I studied his worried face, I knew there would be a catch.

“You will have to make a decision, though.” He turned his gaze back to me, his eyes suddenly looking more intense. “To do this, I'll have to take your magic.”

“I've used my magic on you before,” I told him as I sat down beside him on the bed. “I would be more than happy to do it again.”

The slight smile returned to his lips then, but he started slowly shaking his head back and forth as he closed his eyes. “No, that's not what I mean.” He looked back to me then, the smile vanishing. “I mean, I'll have to take it for good. You can't have a siphoning spell inside of you with the magic you have. It will only keep taking your magic, and it will leave you feeling like you do when you use it all. The dizziness, the nausea, all of it. You would feel like that all the time.”

My stomach started knotting, and I turned my eyes down to stare at my grey sweatpants as I thought about what he was saying. I wouldn't have my healing magic anymore if I decided to do this. I tried to think back to the time before it had activated to remember just what it felt like to not have it, but my memory couldn't conjure up the feeling.

As I thought about it, I felt a sense of peace run through me, and I realized that the baby's magic had grown the slightest bit in that instance. It was almost like she was giving me a sign that this was what I needed to do, so I took a deep breath and looked back up to Aleister, who was waiting for my decision.

“Okay,” I told him, setting my resolve. “I'll do it.”

Aleister's tone turned serious then as he started explaining more to me, like a doctor explaining all the side-effects of a new drug. “Over time, your magic may fade from this stone. After I take it all from you, it won't regenerate in your body. The siphoning spell won't let it.”

“What will happen if it fades?”

“It will just... disappear.”

“If it starts to fade, you take it. Use it if you need it. I would rather it be put to use than to just fade away.” Not having my own magic anymore was enough heartbreak for me, but I didn't want it to go to waste. If he could use it to help people when I couldn't, then I wanted him to. 

“This will also take away the spell I put on you to hide you from the demons.”

“Wyatt already knows about it. It's only a matter of time before the rest of the demons do, too.” I hadn't even thought about that spell since Wyatt had broken it for him.

Aleister nodded, understanding in his expression. He then stood up, turning to face me as he held the stone out in his right palm once again. “Place your hand over mine.”

I stood in front of him and followed his orders, laying my palm flat against his, the cold pendant in his warm hand the only thing between us. We locked eyes as he started speaking, his words almost sounding like music in the otherwise quiet room.

Instead of the sky blue color of his magic that I had seen before, our joined hands started glowing with the light red color of my own magic. I felt a force pulling against me, almost seeming like it was trying to pull my whole soul out of my body. Instead, it only took what Aleister commanded. 

While my magic left me, I focused on the baby's magic, making sure that it didn't get intertwined with mine and taken in the process. It was still just as strong as it had been, however, and I knew that Aleister was being extra careful to not mess with it. Like he had said, we weren't sure how it would affect her if all of her magic was stolen from her while she was still developing.

Within a few minutes, my magic was gone and the red light was fading into our joined palms. I tried to concentrate on the feeling of using it, but I had none to use. Surprisingly, the whole process didn't leave me feeling nauseous like I would have thought.

Aleister started moving his hand then, and I pulled mine back to my side, away from his. When I looked at the stone again, I realized that it held the same color of my magic, an obvious sign that it had worked.

“It's all gone,” I said as I looked back up to Aleister's face, but I stopped short when I noticed something else. 

Under his left eye, a light blue glow had formed. It disappeared just as quickly as it came, though, and in its place was a tiny crescent moon, almost matching the one that now held my magic. I stared in awe as Aleister raised his left hand to his face, feeling where the new symbol was. A smile formed on his lips as he closed his eyes.

“It's a moon,” I whispered to him as I moved my hand up to place it over his.

His eyes met mine then, the smile still held on his features. “That will be my permanent reminder of you...” His hand that held the small stone started glowing with his own magic then, but it was quickly captured in the stone with mine, creating the same beautiful amethyst color that I had seen when I used the baby's magic. “And her.”

This time, it was I who was smiling. I felt tears threaten to fall from my eyes, but I quickly shut them to hold them back. We still had work to do, and Aleister also realized that.

“The next spell,” he said as he carefully placed the stone in his coat pocket once more and moved his hands to my stomach. “This one is to protect her from the siphoning spell while she's inside of you.”

Aleister started chanting the spell while pushing his magic into me. I hardly felt anything, however, as this spell was meant for the baby and not me. Once the glow had stopped, he moved his hands to my shoulders and let them rest there. “And this one is the siphoning spell.”

I nodded to him, and he started speaking again. This time I felt an energy flowing into me instead of being taken away. His magic surrounded us, illuminating the room in the soft glow. Only a few heartbeats passed before the light dimmed and went out, leaving me feeling lighter than I had before.

“That's it?” I asked as I raised my hands in front of me and inspected them. I also felt for the baby's magic, making sure that it hadn't been affected. Relief flooded me when I felt it there, just as strong as it had been.

“We need to make sure it works,” he told me, taking his hands from my shoulders.

“How do I make sure it works?” I asked, concentrating on the odd sensation just as I would if I were trying to find my healing magic. I wasn't sure exactly how to test it out, though.

“It should be the exact opposite of what you're used to doing with your magic,” he tried to explain as his brows furrowed, then lifted like he had an idea. “Here.”

Aleister held out his hand to me, motioning for me to take it. I hesitantly reached up and wrapped my fingers around his hand, waiting for him to tell me what to do.

“Where you're used to pushing magic through, you need to feel for other people's magic inside of them, and then pull it to you. Can you feel my magic?”

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on him through our contact. I had to reach further than I was used to in order to find it, but I suddenly felt an overwhelming amount of magic that only vaguely felt familiar. I gasped as I realized that was all Aleister's. I had never felt so much stored magic in my life, even though he had just used so much of it to cast these spells. 

As I focused on it, I attempted to pull it to me. When I pictured myself pulling his magic like a bright blue thread, I suddenly saw the light behind my closed eyelids. It filled my vision and took my breath away, but Aleister quickly stopped it. He released my hand and took my shoulders, leading me to sit back down on the edge of the bed.

I opened my eyes then as I looked to him again, standing in front of me with a satisfactory look on his face. 

“It worked,” he assured me as he sat down beside me.

I caught my breath as I looked over to him. “That's a lot of magic.”

He huffed a small laugh. “Over a thousand years of practice tends to make your magic grow.”

I smiled at him and turned my gaze back down to my hands in my lap, unsure of what to say next. Before I could think of anything, though, Aleister was speaking.

“You know,” he started, his voice quieter than it had been. “It isn't too late to take the human's memories. Just in case...”

I couldn't bring myself to look up to him as his words trailed off. My heart squeezed at his offer, but I knew I couldn't accept it, no matter how much I may have wanted to. The look on David's face when I had told him about the baby let me know that I had made the right decision. I knew that he would take care of her and be a loving, human, father.

“Do you really want her to be a part of your world?” I whispered to Aleister, still keeping my eyes trained on my hands.

He sighed before standing up again, his voice still low. “No, I don't.”

Finally, I looked up and found him standing by the open window, looking out to the moon. 

“I'm sorry,” I told him, unsure of what else I could say.

“Don't be sorry.” He turned to me with a sad smile. “I had never planned on having children of my own because of all the dangers they would face, but when I saw her, I couldn't help but to at least offer to be there for you. I knew what you wanted from the beginning, though.”

“I just want to keep her safe,” I admitted, feeling my heart break bit by bit.

“Just remember this,” Aleister said, his voice full of care as he knelt on the floor in front of me to take my hands in his, “You won't have your magic anymore, so please be careful. Don't think that you're invincible. You've got another life to worry about now.”

I nodded my head and tried to fight back tears.

Luckily, he went on before I could attempt to speak. “I'll keep the demons away from you, but I won't interfere with your life anymore. This time I mean it. I will watch Wyatt and make sure he stays away from you and the baby.” He smiled then as he turned his gaze to our linked hands. “You and David be happy. Live your peaceful life.”

“Aleister,” I caught his attention, making him look back to me instead of our hands. “What would you name her?”

His eyes grew wide for a split second before scrunching with a smile. “If I got to choose, I would name her Aislin.”

I felt butterflies in my stomach at his words, and I took that as a good sign as I returned his smile. “She likes it.”

Aleister wrapped his arms around me then, taking me in a hug. I inhaled his pine tree scent one last time before he stood up and walked to the window.

“I love you, Kathrine.”

And with that, he turned into his crow in a cloud of smoke and flew away, leaving me alone with my thoughts, just like I had told David I wanted to be.

 

It would be another twenty six years before I would see Aleister Black again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone who reads this. This is the last one, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. <3


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